Connecting Points

Monday, January 11, 2010

Today’s Topic: Coming of Age

Today’s Text: 2 Peter 1:3  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 

It’s a big day for young adults in Japan. Today is Coming of Age Day, the national holiday held to congratulate and encourage all those who have reached the age of majority (20 years old) over the past year, and to help them realize that they have become adults. Coming of Age Day means that 20 year olds can vote, drink and marry without parental permission, but at the same time, are also subject to all laws and social responsibilities.

The ages may vary, as will the ceremonies, but every culture has some way of recognizing young people’s passing from childhood into adulthood. Connected to the recognition of maturity is accountability. Accountability is based on one’s ability to be personally responsible for one’s choices and actions.

The Japanese have chosen the age of 20 to recognize that accountability in their citizens. In the United States we recognize different ages for different responsibilities. Young people can drive when their 14, 15 or 16, depending on the state in which they reside. They can vote when they are 18. They can drink when they are 21. And I haven’t yet figured out our judicial system because there’s no consistency in when they are responsible for criminal activity.

Religions also have their age of accountability practices. For many it is between the ages of 10 and 14. It is at this age that they believe that the maturity process reaches a point where a child’s value system is now becoming his or her own and they are now responsible for the choices that accompany that maturity. It is at this stage of emotional and intellectual development that children come of age spiritually.

From the moment of birth a child is completely equipped to be an adult, unless some tragic disease or disorder as altered their genetic ability to mature. Every building block is in place for the child to come of age. The process of moving from infancy to adultery (Sorry, bad humor. Just checking to see if you are really reading carefully.) The process of moving from infancy to adolescence to adult maturity takes a long time, but all of the necessary elements are in place from the moment of conception for that process to be completed. The only thing lacking is knowledge – knowledge of the system and people to whom they are accountable.

The same is true of any person who comes to Jesus Christ for salvation. From the moment of their spiritual birth, the Holy Spirit conceives in them everything they need for life and godliness. All that is lacking is knowledge – knowledge of the God to whom they are accountable.

There are two points I would like to make to help you connect to this truth.

• First, you have everything you need right now to live a godly life. The Holy Spirit has granted to you the complete spiritual DNA of Jesus Christ. Unlike physical conception and birth, there has never been nor can there ever be a genetic failure in the realm of spiritual birth. The Holy Spirit perfectly completes the born again experience in the life of every believer who repents of their sin and confesses Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The maturity process may vary in each person, but the building blocks are all there equally in everyone.
• Second, we spend far too much time praying for what we already possess and not doing what is necessary to fully mature. I find only one thing in Scripture in relationship to our maturity that we are to ask for – wisdom. (James 1:5) Wisdom is the practical application of knowledge. If we already possess all of the spiritual building blocks to live godly lives, then it seems clear that the request we should be making to God is for more knowledge of Him, so that we can ask for more wisdom to apply that knowledge to the areas of our life that are already receptive to the maturity that knowledge will bring. Your spiritual DNA is already in place. It just needs to be set free to accomplish the growth God built into it.

I wish I had more time and space to develop that thought, but I don’t want to overload you. Take some time to deeply reflect on that last point. The power of God has already given you everything you need for a life that honors Him. Stop asking for patience. Stop begging for peace. Don’t cry out to God for the things He has already given you. Instead, recognize that the cisterns to hold the Living Water are already in place in your life. The Living Water has been delivered. All that’s lacking is the growing knowledge of God so that the water can bubble out of your life onto others. Ask God to increase your knowledge of Him – specifically of His love and grace. You will be excited to see that you are coming of age.

Pastor John

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Today’s Topic: Grow and Show

Today’s Text: 2 Peter 1:2  May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. 

The more you know the more you grow.

The more you grow the more you show.

The more you show the more you stow.

The more you stow the more you overflow.

The more you overflow the more you bestow.

The more you bestow the more you sow.

The more you sow the more others grow.

May you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord, so that you overflow with grace and peace, causing others to grow.

Pastor John

P.S. Since we woke up this morning to more winter precipitation, I can’t resist one more rhyme…Now. let’s go throw snow.

Connecting Points

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Today’s Topic: Precious Faith

Today’s Text: 2 Peter 1:1  Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: (NIV) or, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours: (ESV)

There are times when we wonder if our faith would be stronger if only we had been able to walk with Jesus on the earth. There may even be an element of envy that arises in our hearts when we consider the faith experiences of others compared to our own. On occasion we even succumb to the temptation to believe that some people in the family of God are more blessed than others. This may cause us to question our value. We may begin to wonder if we are all that precious.

The Apostle Peter makes an incredible statement in the opening verse of his second letter to the Christians of the first century. You remember Peter. He walked and talked with Jesus. He was a first-hand witness of His resurrection. While at a public breakfast meeting on a beach he was appointed by Jesus to feed and care for His other followers. He was tempestuous. He had to be rebuked. He was courageous. He had to be slowed down. He was scared of what people thought of Him. He denied knowing Christ. He was forgiven.

Most of us would tend to place guys like Peter, along with John and Paul, on a different plane of faith than ourselves. When we mention anything about all of the heroes of the faith listed in Hebrews chapter 11 we immediately put them in the same unreachable category as Peter. It’s easy for us to fall into the comparison game. It’s even easier for Satan to capitalize on such comparisons and bring our credibility into question. Some of you may be suffering from such symptoms even today.

But Peter, the guy we put on the pedestal, says this – you have received a faith as precious as mine. You have equal standing before the Lord with me. I hope I’m not unique here, because I want you all to enjoy the splendor of that thought. My first reaction was to shout WOW! I hope that was yours also. But then I thought of those of you who are so overloaded with credibility questions that you immediately doubted the reality and truth of what Peter said. I understand, because I’ve been there myself. But there is freedom from that competitive comparison bondage.

Look back at what Peter said and you will discover the key to unlock your chains. It’s right there in the first part of the verse. Until you discover it, you will continue to think that the value of your faith is based on the validity of your works. Until you get this one thing corrected you will continue to live under the lie that your faith is obtained through your attempts to become righteous. Unless you correct your mind and bring it into conformity with the truth of God’s Word, you will continue to try to out-perform others in an attempt to raise your personal assessment of your worth.

So what’s the key? It’s simple – your faith is based on the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. That makes all of us equal and equally precious. When God looks at your life right now, no matter where you are or what you are doing, He sees the righteousness of Christ in you. You are equally precious in His sight with any and all other believers. You have equal standing with Peter, James, John, and Paul. You are as precious to God as Mary the mother of Jesus. You, with all of your flaws and failures, have been given a faith that lifts you out of the slime of sin and places you at the side of the Savior.

You are so precious that Jesus came from glory to get you. C.S. Lewis says it this way. One may think of a diver first reducing himself to nakedness, then glancing in mid-air, then gone with a splash, vanished, rushing down through green and warm water into black and cold water, down through the increasing pressure into the deathlike region of ooze and slime and old decay, and then back up again, back to color and light, his lungs almost bursting until suddenly he breaks the surface again, holding in his hand the dripping, precious thing he went down to recover. That dripping, precious thing is you and I, and Jesus is the diver who came down to get us.

You are precious. Your faith is equally precious with every other saint who followed Christ. Conquer your doubts. Renew your mind so you can stop basing your value on your performance and start believing you are already precious. You have been set free by Christ. Don’t choose to go back to your chains. Use the key God has given you to unlock those chains and rejoice that you have been declared righteous. Now, live in that victory every day.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Today’s Topic: Seeking God

Today’s Text: Psalm 105:4  Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his face continually!

There was one more box. It was out of sight in the back of the storage area in the basement. We knew it was there, but there was no urgent need to go through it. But now the last minute had arrived. We would be leaving on our trip right after the rest of the family left our home after Christmas, and we needed to sort through the stuff in the box. Some of it would become keepsakes for my brother whom we would be seeing as we travelled.

We dragged the box out into the family room and sat down. Piece by piece we removed items from the box and checked for colored stickers that would indicate which brother had chosen that item as their own. Memories started to roll. A few tears started to flow. Each item had some significance in the married life of my mom and dad. Each item had a story connected to it.

Some of the items had a hot pink sticker not associated with one of the boys. That color was used to indicate that it didn’t matter who got the item but that it had to stay in the family somewhere. One such pink-stickered item was a small desk plaque made out of marble. On the front of the plaque is a laser-engraved face of Jesus created by Joe Castillo that is formed out of scenes from His life.

The beard is a scene of Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, and an ox in the manger.

The angels heralding His birth form the right side of His face.

Jesus hanging on the cross forms the left side of His face.

His forehead and hairline are created with the scene of Jesus kneeling in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

One side of His nose and both eyes have highlighted crosses in them.

Underneath the picture these words are engraved – Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face continually.

I remembered seeing that plaque in my parent’s home, but it wasn’t until that moment that the significance of it really struck me. What strength it took for Him to come to earth and leave the glory of God’s presence.

What strength He displayed when He battled all the temptations of sin and self so that He might save us.

What strength He had to keep His heart and mind focused on God’s purpose for His life so that His eyes were always looking forward to the cross.

What strength He had to so passionately pray through the final temptation to run from God’s will that His sweat turned to blood.

What strength it took for Him to endure the beatings, the thorns, and the nails so that He could intentionally shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins.

I knew right then and there that I wanted that plaque on my desk where I would look at that created face of Jesus every day. Not as an idol, but as a constant reminder of my salvation and the strength that is now mine in Christ Jesus my Lord. Strength to endure temptation. Strength to press on towards the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Strength to endure any and all hardships for the sake of serving my Savior.

As the writer of Hebrews puts it – let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:1-4)

So if you come to my office you can see this simple little desk plaque. But be prepared. As we talk about it I will most certainly ask you if you are seeking the face of Jesus. I guarantee I will ask you if you are living in His strength or yours.

As for me, I will seek His face continually and stand in His strength confidently.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Current Study: Advent

Today’s Topic:  A Conspiracy of Love

Scripture Reading:  1 John 3:16  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 

As we brace for a major winter storm that could disrupt lots of our family plans for Christmas, let us not become so worrisome that we forget to celebrate the transcending power of love. Love broke through the farthest boundaries of the universe and stepped into the world in a manger. Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.

If our plans are able to be realized, I will be on vacation all next week visiting family in the Dakotas. So until I return on Monday, January 4^th, may this Advent poem written by Dave Veerman carry you through the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

LEGACY

                                                  Your life is like the morning fog-

Like the fog

  a morning mist

    life flows and ebbs

      until sun kissed

  Of days and years

    at Noels past

      we await

        but done so fast

    Delighted squeals

      and paper torn

        our family’s joy

          each Christmas morn

      So my wonder

        at the tree

          how many yuletides

            left for me

                                             It’s here a while,

Not long ago

  in manger lay

    the Holy One

      a price to pay

  Thirty years

    plus three invested

      the twelve and more

        supremely tested

    Faithfully

      they passed the Word

        loving, serving

          many heard

      We their heirs

        live through the ages

          write our account

             on fresh pages

                                                   then it’s gone (James 4:14, NLT).

Parent, child

  new generation

    sharing Truth

      the Incarnation

  Christmas gift

    amazing story

      grace unfurled

        revealed glory

    This baton

      to hand along

        faith to faith

          the future strong

      Knowing not

        just when I’ll see

          my chapter

            in this legacy

And so soon

  the race is won

    at journey’s end

      I kiss the Son.           Hallelujah!

Connecting Points

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Current Study: Advent

Today’s Topic:  Modern Day Miracle of Love

Scripture Reading:  2 Corinthians 9:8, 10-11   And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Monday morning I received this email – For those of you who don’t know yet, we served 196 people last night!  What an amazing night, and that the Lord multiplied the food so all were served, with some left over!

Several weeks ago in church we learned about a new ministry in our city that is an outreach to the unsaved trapped in the bondage of drugs, alcohol, homelessness and unemployment. The founders of the ministry are truly acting under God’s power and in response to God’s vision. As a congregation, we accepted the challenge to get involved and help them in any way we can.

One of our shepherd groups in our church decided to prepare and serve the weekly meal served at the ministry on Sunday evenings to about 50 people. They recruited additional volunteers from the congregation to help provide food because this would be their Christmas dinner and they should expect up to 100 people. Everything was organized and prepared to meet that need. Little did they know that God had much bigger plans.

Someone decided to promote the event on Facebook. A big story about the ministry appeared in the paper on Sunday. The meal planning team did not consider the effects of such publicity, but they had been praying. One of the members of the planning team put it this way as he wrote about what happened.

We had all been praying about how we were going to serve all the people predicted last night…Since none of us had experience cooking for that number of people, we started discussing the menu, and since B-side has no cooking or storage or cleaning facilities, we had to do everything at home or church and take it there in roasters. We ended up getting about 50 lbs of ribs, six small turkeys, Cheesy Hash Browns, Baked Beans, and buttered dinner rolls. We also managed to get 90 cupcakes and a large sheet cake. One member of our team said she had heard that one pound of turkey could feed two people, so while it might be close, we thought we could feed up to 100. As you may have noticed, there was an article about B-side in the Sunday paper, so I was praying that we would have enough to serve a good meal to MORE than 100. We got setup with extension cords and started tripping circuit breakers everywhere. As we started serving someone came by and said we were up to 165 people and still coming. We all stared at each other, praying for God to provide. HE DID! We had enough to serve over 190 people. It wasn’t quite what Jesus did with 5 loaves and 3 fish, but God provided. What is even more surprising is that only the last 6 plates didn’t get potatoes, and the last 2 didn’t get beans, and the last of the ribs went on the last plate. I saw one of our men putting the last of the turkey in a zip lock bag, and there may have been enough to make 2-3 turkey sandwiches!!!!! God not only provides, He does it in the exact portions needed! We serve an awesome God, and if you are willing to stretch yourselves a little, He will use you to do amazing things!!!! What a blessed night.

Here’s the email we got from Matt and Suzi, the Directors of B-Side Community in Eau Claire:

Hello friends!!
We can’t thank you enough for your serving hearts tonight!!! We never expected that many people and for there to be enough food like there was, was incredible… thank you for all your planning and hard work… I pray through the craziness people were blessed and even though there wasn’t an actual message tonight, that Christ’s love and message through serving and loving people was evident… I know it was powerful for me to watch God tonight… in so many ways! You all were amazing!! Thank you thank you!!! What a blessing!
God Bless you!!!
Love,
Suzie and Matt

It is in giving that God provides the greatest blessing. He has promised to always provide enough for us to give generously. Merry Christmas, and happy giving!

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Monday, December 21, 2009

Current Study: Advent

Today’s Topic:  Maturing Love

Scripture Reading:  Matthew 1:20-21  An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

It is the theme of more songs than any other subject. It is the subject of more prose and poetry than any other topic. It is the topic of more conversations than any other item of interest. It interests everyone even before we understand we are interested in it. We were designed by our eternal Creator to need it, know it, experience it and show it. It is love.

The love of God that we have the capacity to know and experience is far greater than the counterfeit defined and desired by the world. What the world calls love is nothing more than an attempt to satisfy self, and should not be called love at all. The essence of love has nothing to do with emotions. It has even less to do with hormones. Love may produce emotional responses, but it is not found in the emotions. Love is volitional, not emotional. Love is found in the will of one’s heart.

The love of God is not based on His emotional connection to mankind, for there is nothing in our sinful nature for Him to desire. Love is itself an attribute of God, not a product of any of His other attributes. His nature is love, and therefore His actions are all loving. Even in His judgment of sin He declares His love for the sinner. Jesus came to earth to be judged for our sin, yet God sent Him as an expression of His love so that we might be forgiven and experience His love.

As I read the story of Joseph I am impressed by the nature of his love. What kind of love was it that would move Joseph to listen to the angel and take Mary as his wife after she was already pregnant and declared by society to be an adulteress? How great the love he knew that he would forego the stoning required by the law and marry her. How strong the love he lived that he would put his own reputation and career at risk for the sake of honoring God. How secure he was in the love of God to prioritize obedience to his Lord over acceptance of his culture. How confident he was of God’s love that the opinions, scorn, and even rejection of his friends were not allowed to influence his decision. What love Joseph knew!

We are in desperate need of this kind of love. As the Apostle Paul said, And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV)

We may think we know what love is, but the reality is probably that we don’t. How many of us would dare to presume that we know the depth and width and length and height of God’s love? But according to Paul we can. We must not be satisfied with less than the fullness of God’s love. So here’s a measuring stick to help you determine where you are in the process of understanding the love of God. May the Lord use it to bring you to maturity in love so that you fulfill the promise of Jesus when He said that the world will know we are Christians by our love.

These are the five stages of love’s maturity. Stage one is actually not love at all, but must be the starting point because it’s where we all begin apart from Christ.

1.    The love of self for self’s sake – All choices are made for the benefit of self because love of self has been chosen as one’s highest priority.

2.    The love of God for self’s sake – All choices have a spiritual appearance, but God is worshipped and served only so long as self is well served.

3.    The love of God for God’s sake – Now love is beginning to truly be experienced. We love God not for what He does for us but exclusively for Who He is.

4.    The love of self for God’s sake – We now see ourselves in light of God’s grace that has forgiven us, accepted us, and qualified us as His eternal child.

5.    The love of others for God’s sake – This is the fullness of love – the sacrifice of one’s self for the sake of another.

It was the love of others for God’s sake that moved Joseph to consider God’s purpose and take Mary as His wife. It was the same love that had sent Jesus to her womb. God’s love is unique to Him, but shared with those who are His. Each one who has been born of God has inherited the love of God. We can and we must know it, experience it, and live it.  

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Current Study: Advent

Today’s Topic:  Living Love

Scripture Reading:  Luke 11:42  “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

I would rather do simple things motivated by the love of God than great things tainted with even a hint of pride.

That statement was born in my mind this morning as I was reading a devotional from Brother Lawrence, a monk from the 17^th century who wrote the book Practicing the Presence of God. I was deeply challenged with his words when he wrote, We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.

When Jesus came to earth as the living expression of the love of God, a stark contrast was created. The culture into which Jesus was born was one of great pride, manifesting itself in mandated obedience to the law that had been translated and twisted to accomplish self-righteousness. Jesus entered this world of self-centered sin with the liberating language of love. The contrast created conflict ending in crucifixion

It was in the midst of a meal that the contrast created such conflict that the religious leaders of the day began to actively pursue the elimination of the Messenger whose words threatened their prideful positions and possessions. You can read the complete story in Luke chapter 11.

In His response to the legalistic position of the Pharisees, Jesus declared six things that He saw as woeful behavior in them. It is the very first one that to me is most significant, because it expresses the contrast that caused the conflict. The Pharisees were so intent on obedience to even the tiniest aspect of the law that they completely ignored love to people based on the love of God.

The Pharisees were so concerned with their image that they even placed a tenth of their garden herbs in the offering at the temple. Yet when it came to helping the needy and the hurting, they separated themselves from such activity for fear that they would somehow become ceremonially unclean for worship. Their image had become more important to them than the expression of the love of God.

Jesus addressed this issue first in His response to them. He told them that the love of God and the loving treatment of people were to be most evident in their lives. Obedience to even the simplest laws of God was important and not to be neglected, but obedience was never to overshadow love. Obedience is never an end in itself. In fact, the self-righteousness and image-consciousness attached to obedience not motivated by love is woeful in the eyes of God.

Love is to be the reason we live and the motivation for all activity. Legalism chooses what is beneficial to self. Love chooses only what is beneficial to others. Maybe this would be a good time to review what the Bible says about a lifestyle of love.

• Love is more important than miraculous spiritual gifts – If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 
• Love is more important than knowledge and faith – If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 
• Love is more important than sacrificial giving – If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
• Love is to expressed in every aspect of our personality, lifestyle, and relationships –
  • Love is patient and kind.
  • Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 
    or rude.
  • Love does not demand its own way.
  • Love is not irritable
  • Love keeps no record of being wronged.
  • Love does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 
  • Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 

Many times I think we fall into the trap of the Pharisees, somehow hoping our actions will bring credibility and value to our lives. God’s love alone can do that. His love qualified us. No amount of obedience can improve our standing before God. We have already been given full rights of inheritance as the children of God. The love of God has conquered the need for self-affirmation. As a result, let the love of God motivate all of your actions. True love always benefits others. We can live that way now because we’ve already received all the benefits of God’s love.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Current Study: Advent

Today’s Topic:  I’m Still Standing

Scripture Reading:  1 John 3:1  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

All I was doing was putting on my socks. I did it the same way I do every morning. I don’t know what happened. By the time I got to the kitchen for my bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats and my coffee, I couldn’t stand up straight. I am currently experiencing the kind of lower back pain that blurs the vision. It is sapping my strength.

As I sit here at my desk I wonder if I’ll be able to get out of my chair. Getting out of the car was a struggle. One of the many well-conditioned muscles :) of my back has decided to cramp up and I don’t know how to uncramp it. I am sitting differently. I look goofy when I stand. (Stop it. I know I look goofy anyway. And don’t make me laugh because it hurts too much.) It’s probably obvious that the pain is affecting my ability to think and write.

Even though the pain has changed my physical positioning, it is not affecting my permanent position as a son of the Most High God. Hallelujah for that. Pain can’t stop love, and the love of God has been lavished on us. King David knew about this love when he wrote this in Psalm 36:

How priceless is your unfailing love!

Both high and low among men find  refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; 

you give them drink from your river of delights.  For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

The Apostle Paul declared that by the power of God’s love our position in Christ is eternally secure.

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)

Paul also wrote that the power of God’s love is what put us in that permanent position in the first place.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,   made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.   And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,   in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)

When trouble comes; when pain increases; when strength is sapped and needs to be replenished, follow the advice of Ephesians 3:16-19.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,   so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,   may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,   and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I’ve been lavished with love by my heavenly Father. The pain in my back, or pains in the neck, can’t change His love for me or my stand in Him. So I’m going to have a “count-it-all-joy” party today, knowing that Jesus is teaching me the depths of His love so that I can be filled to the brim with the fullness of God. Anybody want to come to the party?

Pastor John
  

Connecting Points

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Current Study: Advent

Today’s Topic:  Love

Scripture Reading:  Galatians 4:3-5  We were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 

What made him do it? He was a free man. Not only had he never been a slave, he had spent his entire life working to free slaves. So what made him voluntarily become a slave?

For years Jack had been the voice of truth and reason in his small southern community. But he was opposed to the slave trade that was ingrained in the everyday experience of the socialites with whom he lived. He took a public stand on his position. His words cut deep into the hearts of those who bought, sold, and owned fellow human beings. The respect that so many had held for him was soon rejected and turned into hate. In an attempt to discredit and discourage him, the town folks flaunted their slaves more publicly than ever. They lost all compassion and concern for the lives of the slaves, and soon physical mistreatment and abuse was heaped high upon the already crushed spirits of the slaves.

Then Jack did something incredible. It was unexpected and unbelievable to the slave owners and to the slaves themselves. Jack sent a letter to the owner of the slave market. In the letter he referred to the Code of Hammurabi. Hammurabi had been the sixth king of Babylon in 1790 B.C. In this Babylonian law it was written that “an individual might sell himself into slavery.” So Jack suggested to the slave market owner that he would like to be sold as a slave. The slave trader agreed, accepting Jack’s contingency that in exchange for his slavery, one slave scheduled for sale that day would be set free.

On the appointed day, Jack placed himself on the trading block in the town square, and the bidding began. The hatred of the people directed at Jack for trying to stop slavery soon boiled over into enormous bids. Everyone wanted their chance to get their hands on Jack. They truly thought that this would silence him.

But they had not counted on the power of love. After the sale, as Jack’s clothes were torn from his body and he was literally dragged away in chains, the announcement was made that the next slave up for sale would not be sold, and instead would be set free. Everyone shouted in angry disapproval until the slave trader held up his hand and told them that the purchase price for Jack included the freedom for one slave. When asked why he would do such a thing, the slave trader replied, “It wasn’t my idea. It was Jack’s.”

The crowd went silent. Heads hung in shame. One by one they turned and walked away until only Jack, his new “owner”, and the freed slave were left. Then, with tears streaming down his face, the slave reached out and hugged Jack and simply said “Thank you.” Then, turning to Jack’s purchaser, the slave said, “Master, I would like to become your slave as well on one condition: that you set Jack free.”

The slave owner fell to his knees and cried out to God in heaven, “How can I resist such love?” He stood to his feet, unshackled Jack, and released him and the slave. They were both free.

What made him do it? Love. The same love God displayed when He sent His one and only Son to the earth. From the freedom of heaven He was born under the law so that He might set us free from slavery to sin. And for those who have been set free, that same love of God is to flow through us to bring the hope of freedom to those still in the bondage of sin. So I ask you, how will the love of Jesus be seen in you today so that someone is set free?

Pastor John