Jesus

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Real Love

This time of the year we tend to give more than at other times.  Maybe it’s because we’re more conscious of God’s giving to us. I was reading in 1 John chapter 3 this week, and I was reminded how important it is for us to show love in tangible ways like God has shown us.  Our giving is a display of our love for one another.  The Apostle John compares giving with Christ sacrifice on the cross.  1John 3:16-18 says it this way.  (Though I usually quote from the NIV, I like the way these verses are translated in the Message.)

This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us.  This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.  If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love?  It disappears.  And you made it disappear.  My dear children, let’s not talk about love; let’s practice real love. (MSG)

I take from these words that we are instruments of God’s love.  When we give in a tangible way we bless others with the love that God blessed us with.  I pray that each of us will be inspired for the coming season and throughout the coming year to practice real love.

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The Trouble with Marriage

The most important thing to remember about marriage is that two human beings are involved.  Now humans are created in the image of God, but they picked up an additional element at the fall of man.  This additional element is known as a sinful nature.  When thrown into a marital situation the sinful nature can wreak havoc.  Since we all have this destructive element, those of us who are married have an inherent obstacle to success.  How do we combat this obstacle?

I don’t claim to have the ultimate answer, but here are some thoughts that might help.  First, don’t be surprised when your partner sins; remember it’s inherent.  So, be ready with love and mercy.  In Colossians 3:12 &13 there is some great advice,

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Having trouble incorporating this into you relationship?  Help is just a prayer away.  God has always answered my prayers of “help me!”  When I fail to see the wonder and blessing in my wife, I ask God to fix my eyes. I recognize that the fault is in me.  My failing to see is found in the clouding of self-centeredness.  I’m thinking of me and not her.  God always helps me to alter my perspective and see clearly the wonderful gift of her presence in my life.

I’m writing here from the husband’s point of view, but I’m pretty sure this also works for wives.  If both partners look for the fault in themselves then God has an easier task.  He doesn’t have to wait till we own our part of the problem.  I realized early in our marriage that it was unfruitful for me to try and fix what I thought was wrong with my wife.  (Do I hear chuckling in the background?)  Yes, only God can fix me, and only God can fix my wife.  We both have that sinful nature to deal with.  Thankfully, we have a savior who is always ready to help.  All we have to do is humble ourselves and ask.

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With Great Expectation

I woke up this morning feeling better than I ever remember feeling.  My heart felt light, and I was in love with the world.  My wife seemed to be having the same kind of morning.  We had a pleasant breakfast together then left for work.  Walking out to my car several of my neighbors greeted me with a friendly good morning, and for the first time, I felt a genuine love for them as I returned their greeting.  I got in my car and headed out on my normal route to work.  I noticed that the normal intensity from my driving companions was missing.  People were not cutting each other off, but they were yielding to others and giving way in a very uncustomary manner.  All the tension and animosity of the usual experienced was gone.  I turned on the radio to hear the morning news.  Every report was of kind and generous acts occurring around the world.

Then I really woke up.  I realized I was dreaming.  To my dismay the scourge of sin was still among us.  Hatred, selfishness and mistrust were still guiding our actions.  How I longed for the world of my dream.  At that moment I realized, it is coming.  The reign of sin will end.  We will live in God’s presence where sin cannot exist.  God will usher in a new heaven and a new earth, and we won’t even remember the time of sin’s domination.  Hallelujah!  Let us patiently wait with great expectation.  (see Isaiah 65:17-25 and Revelation 21 & 22)

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The Elect

Many brilliant minds over the ages have developed doctrines about the elect and predestination.  The elect are those who will during the course of time accept Jesus as their savior.  Predestination refers to the idea that God already knows who the elect are. My endeavoring to add to or distract from the many works on this subject would be arrogant presumption.  But, I would like to throw in a few thoughts on the subject anyway.  You decide.  I know I’m treading on dangerous ground.

The apostles Paul and Peter both wrote about God’s foreknowledge of the ones who would become his children.  In Romans 8:29 Paul writes,

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

In 1 Peter 1:1 Peter writes,

            Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood.

In the past, when I read these passages, I would get lost in all the doctrinal issues they have spurred.  Now they just make me feel wanted.  God wants me.  He pursued me and patiently waited for me.  Perhaps you have inkling that you’re being perused by God.  I can, without reservation, recommend that you surrender to him.  Entrust yourself to his foreknowledge.