faith brings joy

 Mark 5 

1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, 

we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 

2 Because of our faith, 

Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, 

and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

320

 "By His mighty power at work within us,

He is able to accomplish more than we would ever dare to ask or hope."

Paul, writing from prison, in Ephesians 3:20

He took it

 Romans 3

21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him 

without keeping the requirements of the law, 

as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 

22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. 

And this is true for everyone who believes, 

no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; 

we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 

24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. 

He did this through Christ Jesus 

when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 

25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. 

People are made right with God 

when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. 

This sacrifice shows that God was being fair 

when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 

26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. 

God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, 

for he himself is fair and just, 

and he makes sinners right in his sight 

when they believe in Jesus.

27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God?

No, 

because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. 

It is based on faith. 

28 So we are made right with God through faith 

and not by obeying the law.

29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? 

Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? 

Of course he is. 

30 There is only one God, 

and he makes people right with himself only by faith, 

whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 

31 Well then, if we emphasize faith, 

does this mean that we can forget about the law? 

Of course not! 

In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.

lose/find

 If you try to hang on to your life, 

you will lose it. 

But if you give up your life for my sake, 

you will find it.

Matthew 16:25

full of Jesus

 Mark 2

13 Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him.

15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”

17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

The question here is this: as followers of Jesus, do many "disreputable sinners" want to hang out with you or I?

inundated

 Mark 1

40 A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.

41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” 42 Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. 43 Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: 44 “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

45 But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.

go

 "go 

and make disciples of all the nations, 

baptizing them in the name of the Father 

& the Son 

& the Holy Spirit. 

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. 

And be sure of this: 

I am with you always, 

even to the end of the age.”

Jesus speaking to His disciples shortly before His ascension back to heaven, in Matthew 28:19-20

His command to "go" extends to us, who claim to be His followers, like His disciples.

the poor

 We've developed an attitude about low income / no income people (iow, the poor) that quite frankly stinks.

Here's what Jesus has to say about all that...

Matthew 25

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

love one another

 1 John 3

11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. 13 So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

14 If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.

advocate

 2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. 

But if anyone does sin, 

we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. 

He is Jesus Christ, 

the one who is truly righteous. 

2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins;

and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 

4 If someone claims, “I know God,” 

but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, 

that person is a liar 

and is not living in the truth. 

5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. 

That is how we know we are living in him. 

6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

the most

 Matthew 22

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

37 Jesus replied, 

“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 

38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 

39 A second is equally important: 

‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

iow...

Love God, love others.

LGLO

1

 Psalm 1 

How well God must like you—
    you don’t walk in the ruts of those blind-as-bats,
    you don’t stand with the good-for-nothings,
    you don’t take your seat among the know-it-alls.

2-3 Instead you thrill to God’s Word,
    you chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
    bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
    always in blossom.

4-5 You’re not at all like the wicked,
    who are mere windblown dust—
Without defense in court,
    unfit company for innocent people.

6 God charts the road you take.
The road they take leads to nowhere.

vineyards

 Matthew 20 

1 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.

3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 5 So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.

6 “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’

7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’

“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’

8 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9 When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. 10 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, 12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14 Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

growing

 2 Peter 1

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

 We have received all of this by coming to know him, 

the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 

4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. 

These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature 

and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. 11 Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

16 PROFOUND words

" Give all your worries & cares to God,

for He cares about what happens to you."

1 Peter 5:7

religious freedom

Much is said these days about "religious freedom" & how Christians are "under attack".

That whole conversation seems to me to come across as a lot of whining, not persecution.

As I read this passage by Peter in his first epistle, I thought about all those who feel they are "sticking up" for Christians...

1 Peter

12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, 

as if something strange were happening to you. 

13 Instead, be very glad;

for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, 

so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

14 If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, 

you will be blessed, 

for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. 

15 If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. 

16 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. 

Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! 

17 For the time has come for judgment, 

and it must begin with God’s household. 

And if judgment begins with us, 

what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? 

18 And also,

“If the righteous are barely saved,
    what will happen to godless sinners?”

19 So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, 

keep on doing what is right, 

and trust your lives to the God who created you, 

for he will never fail you.

believer vs follower

 There is a significant difference between 

1) believing in Jesus as our Savior 

2) & deciding to follow Jesus as His disciple.

Here's what Jesus Himself had to say about it...

Matthew 16

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, 

“If any of you wants to be my follower, 

you must give up your selfish ambition, 

take up your cross, 

and follow me. 

25 If you try to hang on to your life, 

you will lose it. 

But if you give up your life for my sake, 

you will save it. 

26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world 

but lose your own soul? 

Is anything worth more than your soul?"

Many of us believe, but very few of us REALLY follow...

1

 

Psalm 1

1 Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
    meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do.

4 But not the wicked!
    They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
    Sinners will have no place among the godly.
6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,
    but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

little vs much

Matthew 14

 13 As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. 14 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15 That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”

16 But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”

17 “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.

18 “Bring them here,” he said. 19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. 20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. 21 About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!

“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” 

As the old hymn states...

"Little is much, when God is in it..."

word to rich people

 James 5 

1 Look here, you rich people: 

Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. 

2 Your wealth is rotting away, 

and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. 

3 Your gold and silver are corroded. 

The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. 

This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment. 

4 For listen! 

Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. 

The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

5 You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.

closing words

 James 4 

7 So humble yourselves before God. 

Resist the devil, 

and he will flee from you. 

8 Come close to God, 

and God will come close to you. 

Wash your hands, you sinners; 

purify your hearts, 

for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 

9 Let there be tears for what you have done. 

Let there be sorrow and deep grief. 

Let there be sadness instead of laughter, 

and gloom instead of joy. 

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, 

and he will lift you up in honor.

tongue

 James 3 

1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.

But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.

1039

 If you cling to your life,

you will lose it;

but if you give it up for me,

you will find it.

Matthew 10:39 (NLT, 1st ed.)

This verses is one the Lord has poked me with since 2008.

That year it was one of the "verses to hold on to" for that year.

I remember when I realized it was one of the verses for the upcoming year I had a very spiritual thought - "oh, crap!"

😁

I saw only the giving up part - letting go of my life.

I didn't see the getting part - finding life.

That year saw me struggling with whether to move the 20something ministry from the building where the mother church was to a warehouse in downtown Macon.

All year long God whispered, "don't cling to your life."

Long story short, I didn't cling to what had been, moved the ministry, I had the most halcyon days of my life in that warehouse with those 20somethings.

In the years since, that verse has been one of the verses for the year - 2009, 2018, & 2020

And since 2008, every time I read Matthew 10, which is about every 30 months - 1 chapter a day, Matthew 28 chapters, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 21 - God pokes me with it.

Don't cling to your life...

if you don't cling to your concept of what your life should be & trust Him with it, He will give you the life He conceived for you.

Thank about that...