HOW CAN WE BECOME LOVING?

  When you study the life of the Apostle Paul, you learn theology, the study of God.  When you look at the life of James, you learn ethics, practical Christianity.  But, if you want to learn of love, you must look at the life of the Apostle John.  Of all the twelve Apostles, there were three who seemed to form an inner circle.  Those being; James, Peter and John.  And of all of these, John came the closest to Jesus.  Jesus called him, “the beloved.”  Scripture states of John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”  Out of that inner communion, out of that close fellowship, out of that heart to heart relationship with Jesus, came a beautiful life, a sensitive spirit, an apostle of love.

  Yet, this was not the natural nature of John.  He was not born with a loving heart, nor was he reborn with it.  Some find it easier to love then others.  Some just have a loving disposition.  But, all of us know, that truly to love someone else, is something that must be developed.  To love the unlovely, to keep on loving, to love unselfishly, this is hard work and a gift of God.  Love has to be worked at, it doesn’t just happen. 

  When we first hear of John, he is a disciple of John, the baptizer.  John, the baptizer pointed Jesus out to his followers by telling them, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  The disciple, John, knew the Old Testament Scriptures, God’s prophecy, concerning the coming Messiah. He knew all about the Passover Lamb being the type of the Lamb of God to come.  So, John became a follower of the Christ. He left John, the baptizer, and his fishing nets to become an Apostles of Jesus.  Yet, John had a lot of growing to do, a lot of becoming to accomplish.  Incidents in his life, show John to be a man of temper, a man of jealousy, and a man of selfishness.  Yet, he changed.

  There is a legend about John which could certainly be true.  When he was old, so that he could no longer walk, they carried him from his house to the place of worship.  Time and time again, they would ask him to speak.  All he would ever say was, “Little children, love one another.”  Only that and nothing more did he say.  One day someone dared ask him why he said nothing else.  John replied, “Because this is our Lord’s sole commandment.  If we fulfill this nothing more is needed.” 

  We overcome any undesirable trait in our lives in the same way as did John, and that is by a closeness to Jesus.  The closer we come to Jesus, the more like Him we become. The sweet qualities of Jesus will become a part of our life, as we allow this Jesus to live in us.  We must internalize Jesus, making Him a part of our lives.  This is done through the hearing, reading, studying of the Word of God, the Bible. Our lives are changed by the renewing of our minds, as we think on the things of God. Our transformation, change, is a process, as we grow in the likeness of Christ, but we have to know Him to become like Him.
We must practice the presence of God in our lives. We will become loving as we allow the love of Christ to dwell in us.

                 “He became like us, so we could become like Him.”  

WHAT IS GOD DOING?

I believe that God is alive and well, but what is He doing?  Please know that I am not capable to answer this question adequately.  I cannot fathom the work of God.  But, I think it is worthy of our consideration.  In fact, I want to make at least four suggestions as to what God is doing.

First, God is suffering.  
We forget that God feels, therefore suffers.  That which hurts the heart of God most is our sins.  David, of the Old Testament, confessed his sins by saying, “Against You and You only have I sinned” speaking to God.   This is why sin is so terrible, it breaks the great heart of God.
William Stidger tells of this incident in the bombing of England.  A little girl became frightened and was unable to sleep. Finally, her mother comforting her, enabled the girl to fall asleep.  The next morning, the mother hoping that her daughter had forgotten the incident, saw her crying.  She asked her, “what was the matter?”  The girl answered, “Mother, I think God must have cried Himself to sleep last night.”  From this, the poet wrote, “God cried Himself to sleep last night, He see much more than we.”  
We can’t imagine the burden of God because of His complete knowledge of the awfulness of he sinfulness of mankind. It takes suffering to know God.  God suffered for us in Jesus and now suffers with us, as we are burdened with the suffering of others, as well as our own.  

Secondly, God is in His world saving. 
God desires that none be lost. It is the will of God that everyone would be saved. But, man has free will and must make a choice to accept or reject that salvation that God purchased on the cross through His Son, Jesus.  It is true that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory which is Jesus, therefore our greatest need is forgiveness. The unbeliever must come to faith, believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, their personal savior.  Christians must confess their sins to God knowing that “He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”  I John 1: 8-9  The joy of sins forgiven belongs to the Christian.

Thirdly, God is in His world seeking.
God is in His world seeking for helpers, workers; those who will share with Him in seeking to save the lost.
God still calls to us as He did to Isaiah, “Who will go for us and whom shall I send?”   Does He hear us respond, “Here am I, send me?” God is asking for volunteers, people who are dedicated to Him and His holy task. Our going to the lost with the message of salvation is not optional or permissive or subject  to our own pleasure or convenience. It is imperative and mandatory. We who have accepted Christ, have a message and by word and deed, we must deliver it. 

Fourthly, God is in His world succeeding.
It may appear from time to time that evil is winning and wrong will conquer. It often looks like, wrong is in the saddle and right is on the scaffold. The cross appeared as failure and Satan had triumphed.  But not so, for God was there. Jesus was born to win. He came for victory. Not even sin and death, nor the gates of the grave could hold Him.  The Church (God’s people) are firmly planted upon this eternal One. The day is coming when the Kingdom of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord.  “We may not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.”

The question is not so much, what is God doing but rather, what are you doing? 
 As Christians, we are the means for God to work.  He lives in and through us. We must be up and about His business to accomplish His will in our world today.  The issue is, WHAT IS GOD DOING THROUGH YOU?

CLAY FEET

“There is a medieval saying you may have heard: “God draws straight lines with crooked sticks.”
 

Have you noticed how candid the Bible is about its heroes? It doesn’t whitewash the flaws and foibles of its characters. Abraham is not only the Father of All Who Believe but the scared rabbit who puts his wife in jeopardy to save his neck. King David is not only the Man After God’s Heart but the adulterer who lies and kills a man to try to keep the affair from being exposed. Peter is not only First Among Equals in the band of apostles but the frightened fisherman who denies knowing Jesus of Nazareth in his hour of need – not once, but three times.

So how can these people be “saints” and “examples” to the rest of us? How are we supposed to find hope and encouragement from reading their stories? That question isn’t too hard to answer.  For one thing, those stories in the Bible are about real people. And real people have weaknesses, as well as strengths, bad days as well as good ones. For another, God knows everything and lies about nothing. So, the Bible doesn’t tell half-truths or gloss over human frailty. Finally, the full story gets told so you and I will understand that God is willing and eager to accept and include us too.

The purposes of God in this world are seen through people who have clay feet. Always have been. Always will be.  But, I have met so many people who are under the impression they are hopeless or “too far gone.” One woman told me there was no place in God’s heart for somebody who had made as big a mess of her life as she had. A man just out of jail said he could never feel comfortable among “decent folk.” What?

Joseph had a prison record. Sarah laughed at God’s promises. Jacob hurt his family by playing favorites with his kids. Naomi and Ruth were widows. Job lost everything he had ever worked for. Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal. Rahab had been a prostitute. Noah got drunk. Moses stuttered.

 

Are you getting the picture now? Is it dawning on you that God doesn’t have to recruit perfect people (there aren’t any!) and will use just about anybody who is willing to trust him? That means he can use you. You. And you. Even me.
God does some of his best work through the most unlikely people. He draws some beautifully straight lines with some of the most crooked of sticks.”   

                                                                                                                                    Bobby R. Awtrey, Pastor – Savannah, Ga.  

Bobby is a dear minster friend.  I thank him for this insightful article.  I see myself with clay feet, but God loves me and uses me anyway.  The same can be true with you.

POINT PEOPLE TO JESUS

  John, the baptizer, immerser, has been called a ‘first century hippie.’  He looked the part with his long hair and uncombed beard. He wore a rough coat of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist and open sandals on his feet.  He dropped out of normal society, joined a commune and lived a life of voluntary poverty.  He protested against the values of a selfish culture.  But, that is where the similarity stops because John was not concerned with doing his own thing.  He was concerned with doing God’s thing and leading other people to God.  That is why he earned the greatest compliment possible when Jesus said, “Among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the baptizer.”  Matthew 11:11

  John’s whole ministry was just to be a voice, an arm, a hand, a finger pointing away from himself to the Messiah, Christ. Wherein was John’s greatness?  It was in getting himself out of the way of Jesus. Indeed, John was a great prophet. He had received fame. He could have remained in the spotlight and received glory for himself.  But, NO, John didn’t want the glory.  He didn’t want to usurp the rightful place that belonged to the Star, Jesus.  He was willing to be the best possible supporting player for Jesus.
One day, Jesus appeared, approaching John and some of his disciples, and John turned to his followers and said of Jesus, “Look, the Lamb of God.”   John 1:36  John did not resent being eclipsed by Jesus.  He wanted his followers to become followers of Jesus.  John said, “He must become greater; I must become less.”  John 3:30)   John is willing to be forgotten, so Christ can be remembered.  John is willing to become nothing, so Christ can be everything. 

  The greatest role that any Christian can play is that of a supporting character to Jesus.  This preacher or  any other, has only one legitimate reason for being in the ministry, every thing else is subordinated to it, and that is point people to Jesus.  The preacher must stand aside and let peple see Jesus Christ.  I would be less than human to tell you that I hope you think I am a good preacher, a good writer, and that you learn from me, but I have failed miserably if you do not see through me, JESUS. I don’t want you saying, ‘what a preacher, what a writer’ instead, I want you to say, “What a Savior.” 

  This is the purpose of every Christian. The self with all of its egotism and pride, must fade into the background, while Christ who lives in us, is seen by those around us.  Nietzsche said, “Show me that you have been redeemed and I will believe in your Redeemer.”
This is the purpose of the church, followers of Christ, although it is often forgotten in her struggle for statistical success. Often churches are rated as to greatness by membership, budgets and programs.  Forgotten is the truth that there is only one criterion of greatness for any church, be it large or small, and that is: does it prepare the way for people to know Jesus? 

  Everything we do and say is to point all people to Jesus.  We have failed in our purpose to exist, if we do not lift Jesus up, so people can see Him.  We are to be John the baptizers, in that, we too prepare the way of the Lord into the minds and hearts of people by teaching and living God’s Word.

      This is what being a Christian is all about.  Point people to Jesus.

IF THERE SHOULD BE TIME NO LONGER

  Are these words by Shakespeare the truth and nothing but the truth?
“Life is but a walking shadow; a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more.  It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
These words of futility are not new to our ears. Moses, in the 90th Psalm, speaks of the shortness of life and the vanity of human effort.  He declares that life is like a flood that carries us away, like grass that springs up in the morning and dies by evening, like a tale that is so swiftly told.  How very true, life at its longest is so short. The key verse of this Psalm is: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”    
We need to get a new look at life, that we might obtain a new lease on life. We need to stand back and take a good long look into the future and see the real purpose and meaning to all of this living.

  So, gaze with me into the future and see when “TIME SHOULD BE NO MORE.”  Now, this is not just fanciful thinking because it shall be a reality.  Time is something that man is well aware of.  We count life in a matter of time; by hands on a clock, by days, months, years, by rising and setting of sun. But not so with
God, for with God there is no time, it is just one long eternal now.   What will be the situation for man when man runs out of time?

  Time when the world shall be no longer.
Science and Scripture both agree that there will be a time when the world as we now know it, will be no longer.  This old world will someday come to an end.  The Apostle Peter, inspired, wrote in 2 Peter the 3rd chapter verses 7 and 10 these words: “By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men..But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” 

  Time when the Gospel Age will be over.
The Hebrew writer wrote: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son..” 1:1-2 
God has given His all to save sinful humanity.  There is nothing else He can do.  His Son, Jesus, has come, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, resurrected, and is now preparing a home for prepared people.
God declared that His Spirit would not always strive with man. This age of grace, undeserved favor, from God will not always be available.  No where in all of God’s Word is there any suggestion of a second chance beyond the grave.  God continually declares to man, “Today is the day of salvation, now is the acceptable time.”

  The naked truth is that time is running out for this old world and for the salvation of mankind.  That being true, our hearts cry out, “WHEN?”  If I tell you that it is a long ways off in the future, would you put off your preparation to meet God?  If I tell you that it is real soon, would you come running to God out of fear?  I cannot tell you when, because I know not.  I only know…

  “The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour.  Now is the only time you own; live, love, toil with a will, place no faith in tomorrow, for the hands may then be still.”

     “Submit yourselves, then, to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you…”   James 4:7-8