Hebrews 12:2 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
What do you do when life tries your strength? Where do you turn when it seems like there is no one beside you along the way? How can you ever manage to make it through one more day when you can't stand your job or the classes you are in or the person you wake up to every day? And how can you ever be sure God is with you if you can't even see his face?
Fix your eyes on Jesus. This sounds pretty elementary or laughable at times, doesn't it? It appears as if the Lord views my trials and struggles as if they are trivial. He hasn't answered my prayers lately, and he hasn't seemed to show himself in my situation. So how can he ask me to fix my eyes on Jesus?
Read verse 3. "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Jesus is our example and our hope. If he did conquered, and he is living in me now, then I too can conquer. If he endured for me, why can't I endure for him? Verse 2 tells us that for the JOY set before Christ, he endured one of the most painful, brutal deaths imaginable.
Did you read that? Let me put it this way... YOU ARE HIS JOY! You can be sure God is in your situation because Christ endured the cross for you. When you feel like you can't make it through, be encouraged that Christ walked from the Garden of Gethsemane all the way to Calvary because he knew who he was dying for. If you think you are unable to make it through one more day, fix your eyes on Jesus, our beautiful, loving, gracious Savior who endured a cross to save you. You can make it through that job, that class, your marriage, whatever your struggle is with JOY as you fix your eyes on him who joyously endured death for you. So where are you looking? May you look to Christ, the author and perfecter of your faith even when it seems like there is no one else to look to.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Love... Period
1 John 4:7-11
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because GOD IS LOVE (emphasis added). This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Human beings love choice. We love to have 15 options on a menu at a fast food restaurant. We love to have a choice of countless colors for our iPod case. Customization and uniqueness are priceless in our culture here in America. Here's the problem though: for Christians, we don't have as much choice as we would like. John's words above, which reminds me much of another famous passage penned by the Beloved Apostle (ever heard of John 3:16?), do not give us an option. His first letter to the Church is full of statements that should make all of us uncomfortable. We want to be able to decide who we love based on how they treat us or how they look or act. John, who is merely echoing his Savior, is quite stern about the fact that we MUST love others if we claim to be in Christ.
Quick question: What is love? Hollywood has romanticized it. High School kids mistake it for their hormones (sorry guys...). And politicians... well, you get my point. But the biblical model of love is sacrifice and servant-hood. If God is love, and God is made known to us through Christ, then this fact must be evident. The ultimate example of love was Jesus. He is love. He put others before himself. His example of washing his disciples' feet at the Last Supper showed how low he was willing to go to prove his love. As Hebrews 12 tells us, for the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross on our behalf. If that all wasn't good enough, he sent the Holy Spirit to us to guide, direct, empower, and convict us. What else do we want?
But we are willing to compromise our love. If someone in the church gets in our way, we reason that it is for the betterment of everyone that we don't love them. If they harm or wrong us, we lash out in rage. We limit our love, while Christ's love for us is unlimited. And John doesn't give us a choice. We either love or we don't. We either put others before ourselves or we don't. I believe in life, there are some gray areas. This is not one of them. God IS love. Love is who God is. He embodies and personifies love. Love is defined by God. And he clearly tells us that we must love. In fact, Jesus tells us that it is our love FOR ONE ANOTHER that will identify us as his disciples (John 13:35). This declaration comes right after Jesus washed his disciples' feet. So the question is not whether or not we are to love, who we are to love, or even how we are to love. It is if we will love. Will we simply feel some "emotion" towards others, or will we go out of our way to sacrifice for them? Will we truly be patient, kind, gentle, selfless, humble, sacrificial, desiring truth, or not? It really is simple. We must love... period.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because GOD IS LOVE (emphasis added). This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Human beings love choice. We love to have 15 options on a menu at a fast food restaurant. We love to have a choice of countless colors for our iPod case. Customization and uniqueness are priceless in our culture here in America. Here's the problem though: for Christians, we don't have as much choice as we would like. John's words above, which reminds me much of another famous passage penned by the Beloved Apostle (ever heard of John 3:16?), do not give us an option. His first letter to the Church is full of statements that should make all of us uncomfortable. We want to be able to decide who we love based on how they treat us or how they look or act. John, who is merely echoing his Savior, is quite stern about the fact that we MUST love others if we claim to be in Christ.
Quick question: What is love? Hollywood has romanticized it. High School kids mistake it for their hormones (sorry guys...). And politicians... well, you get my point. But the biblical model of love is sacrifice and servant-hood. If God is love, and God is made known to us through Christ, then this fact must be evident. The ultimate example of love was Jesus. He is love. He put others before himself. His example of washing his disciples' feet at the Last Supper showed how low he was willing to go to prove his love. As Hebrews 12 tells us, for the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross on our behalf. If that all wasn't good enough, he sent the Holy Spirit to us to guide, direct, empower, and convict us. What else do we want?
But we are willing to compromise our love. If someone in the church gets in our way, we reason that it is for the betterment of everyone that we don't love them. If they harm or wrong us, we lash out in rage. We limit our love, while Christ's love for us is unlimited. And John doesn't give us a choice. We either love or we don't. We either put others before ourselves or we don't. I believe in life, there are some gray areas. This is not one of them. God IS love. Love is who God is. He embodies and personifies love. Love is defined by God. And he clearly tells us that we must love. In fact, Jesus tells us that it is our love FOR ONE ANOTHER that will identify us as his disciples (John 13:35). This declaration comes right after Jesus washed his disciples' feet. So the question is not whether or not we are to love, who we are to love, or even how we are to love. It is if we will love. Will we simply feel some "emotion" towards others, or will we go out of our way to sacrifice for them? Will we truly be patient, kind, gentle, selfless, humble, sacrificial, desiring truth, or not? It really is simple. We must love... period.
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