Categories
Articles

Poem: Raised From The Dead!!!

Dressed pretty with bandages that wrap my wounds and dead and broken dreams,
People dread to unwrap these bandages fearing the mess and the unpleasant stench,
They mourn the death and convinced its all over,
Where no one else can see or can reach.
Deep cried unto deep,
A cry for life.

Jesus you visit me while everyone else said its too late,
You call me by my name,
Your words breathe life into this dead being,
You unwrapped the messy and stinking wounds that none want to catch a glimpse of,
You are the balm that healed my brokenness,
You alone loved me and cared to rescue me from my grave clothes,
Your love covered the multitude of death, sin and brokenness
You clothe me with a garment of praise
Your love is true life!

 

Visit her blog: Beauty for Ashes

Categories
Sermon

How can we Glorify God with our Spiritual Gifts?

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/how-can-I-glorify-god-with-my-spiritual-gifts-audio.mp3″]

Good morning church! We had a wonderful retreat on Friday as we covered the topic of “Serving each other with spiritual gifts”. We did a small exercise at the end of the retreat where we shared what our gifts were and in fact other people confirmed what those giftings were. It was such a beautiful picture of the variety of expressions of the Spirit’s work in our church. Now as humans we are prone to take pride in anything that we think we are good at or gifted in. So I think it would be ideal and most appropriate to follow up with the question: Now that I know what spiritual gifts are and identified those gifts, in what manner am I supposed to use them? How can I glorify God using my spiritual gifts? Are there ways by which I can use my gifts and still not glorify God?

As we are turning to 1 Corinthians 13, let me provide a little bit of a context to help us understand the passage. As we read through 1 Corinthians 12, what we realize is that there was a division among the Corinthians over spiritual gifts. Some believers considered gifts like tongues to be more valuable and superior to other gifts. Members of the church who didn’t have those gifts felt left out and less honored. Moreover, people were taking pride in their individual spiritual gifts rather than seeing how it can be used to bless and benefit the others in the church. It’s a response to that when Paul writes 1 Cor 13.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

As you may have figured: Love is the way and manner by which we can use our gifts to glorify God. This morning I want to remind us of three truths about biblical love as we look to use our gifts to serve each other:

  1. The necessity of Love
  2. The meaning of Love
  3. The permanence of Love

1. The necessity of Love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing. (v1-3)

It doesn’t get more direct and impactful than that! Paul says that if we have the gift of tongues without love then we are merely noisy instruments. He goes on further to say that if we have great prophetic powers minus love, we are nothing. If we understand all the mysteries and have all knowledge but no love then we are nothing. Not just that, he says that if we give everything that we have away – total sacrifice and even deliver our body to be burned up but have no love, we gain nothing! Such a huge sacrifice has zero effect and rendered useless if it is done without love.

What I think he’s emphasizing on is that love is the key to using your spiritual gifts. That’s why in 1 Corinthians 14, he urges the church to only allow speaking in tongues if there’s an interpreter. Why? Because that’s how the church can be loving toward each other when everyone understands what is being spoken. Remember the goal is to not glorify yourself using your gifts, the goal is to build up each other.

I still remember when I was a young believer in my previous church. I was given the responsibility to play the keyboard during the services. By God’s grace I was a capable keyboard player and would practice a lot even during the week. When we used to have the Lord’s Supper, I would think that this is my moment to shine. All those keyboard solos I practiced during the week would be performed for the whole church to hear. So much so that once someone commented that he felt like he was at the disco during the Lord’s Supper.

At that point of time I thought it was really cool getting all the attention. However, if I have to compare it with 1 Cor 13, was I really being loving? No, because in the attempt to catch people’s attention I missed the whole point of accompanying the songs with music so that people’s attention could be on God, on the gospel and the significant symbol of the Lord’s Supper.

The other thing I want to mention here is that your gifts don’t determine our spirituality, your love does! Let me repeat that again: Your gifts don’t determine how spiritual you are, your love reveals how spiritual you truly are! And that’s a big learning for the church. So many enthusiastic and gifted leaders have messed up themselves and also affected their churches by relying on their gifts rather than loving people. Some of them were very gifted preachers and worship leaders.

Very renowned people who have spoken at conferences and written many books. But because they emphasized and relied on their spiritual gifts for their spirituality, it crumbled and they lost their way. They were so excited to display themselves before people, that they forgot how they were called to use their gifts to lovingly serve and build people. You might have multiple gifts or a single gifts…it doesn’t matter! Are you loving people through those gifts? That’s what matters.

2. The meaning of Love

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

This is probably the most famous wedding card verse. Frequently used passage for pre-marital counseling and during wedding sermons. However, when we look at the context: there was division in the church. So for them, it wasn’t just a sweet, cute message. It was something they had to do to do, they had to forgive, they had to love. And even in close relationships, be it husband-wife, parents-children, close friends, church family you’ll find that there will always be issues.

Why? Because as we live closely with each other we realize each other’s sin much more clearly and we see each other’s weird habits closely. Sometimes it’s not sin specifically that causes issues but weird habits. You like doing things one way, the other person doesn’t and things get difficult in that relationship. To deal with that, we need a healthy reminder of what biblical love looks like.

Negatives: What love is not:-
  • Envy: Being jealous of what the other person has, either his lifestyle, or giftings or anything else.
  • Boast: Spending time talking about what you have or what you’ve done or what you’re going to do.
  • Arrogant: Being puffed up and prideful about what you know. You’re not pulling people down because you think they don’t have or don’t know as much as you. Not having the humility to accept that you could be wrong.
  • Rude: Being offensively impolite or bad mannered in your conduct toward your brothers and sisters.
  • Insist on its own way: Be demanding to have your way.
  • Irritable: Easily annoyed and provoked.
  • Resentful: Keeping count of everything that a person has done and become bitter about it.
  • Rejoices in wrongdoing: Taking pleasure in unrighteousness either in your life or witnessing and enjoying the sins in others.
What love is:
  • Patient and kind: Be patient while bearing the offences of others. Someone may have done something really hurtful toward you but you are going to be very slow in judging or punishing the person and mild in your response.
  • Rejoices in the truth: You would rejoice in everything that is righteous, holy, pure, encouraging and points people toward God! Rejoicing in the Word of God.
  • Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things: A persevering relationship that is secure from threats and one that always believes the best about the person. Free from suspicion and insecurity.

What these few verses tell me is that love is not a feeling or an emotion. But it’s the willing surrendering of your rights for the good of the other person. And that’s why apart from God’s grace we cannot and are absolutely incapable of producing this kind of love. Brothers and sisters, this was the same love that God showed to us in His Son Jesus Christ. It was a pure, humble and glorious love. Even though we deserved God’s wrath, Jesus Christ humbly took on the form of man, lived the perfect live and died as a perfect sacrifice to pay for our sins. You know if we honestly looked at v4-6, we would conclude that we are sinners who haven’t displayed true love toward God. Because we are envious, we are impatient, we are rude, we are arrogant, we are boastful, we’ve been irritated and so many other sins.

Only a perfect sacrifice had the power to remove and cleanse us completely. Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose again on third day to give us what we didn’t deserve: His righteous life. It’s like we were prisoners wearing prison clothes who were going to be executed and at the last moment a good man wearing a nice suit asked us to exchange our clothes for his. We made the exchange and walked out free but the good man paid the price wearing our prison clothes. Can we ever comprehend the extent of this love? Jesus Christ showed us what love is by willingly surrendering his rights for our good and the glory of God. We need to now imitate that Love by bending it outwards in our marriages, in our families, in our church, at work.

3. The permanence of Love

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

In this last paragraph, Paul says how prophecies, tongues, knowledge and all these other spiritual gifts will pass away but not love. All of these gifts are given to us to prepare us for the coming of the Lord. When we see Jesus face to face, we will not require spiritual gifts anymore. I love the way Paul puts it. He says “we will know fully, even as we are known fully”. In other words, God knows us totally from the inside out. Even we probably don’t understand ourselves that well but God does. Just imagine the privilege to know God fully in the same way! That is so amazing!

So spiritual gifts will cease when Christ comes again but love will still continue. Love never ends. Love never fails. Love will never stop being effective. What I always found confusing was v13. Never understood why Paul mentions faith and hope as well and then says love is the greatest.

Colossians 1:4,5: since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

What we see here is faith is our reliance upon Christ for salvation, love is what we share among the believers, and hope is what we have for our eternal inheritance. Out of these faith and hope can seem to be more individual things, but love for the saints involves loving, caring and building up others. And maybe that’s why Paul says it’s the greatest out of three things because it is benefiting the other person as well. We know that within the God-head, the three members – Father, Son and Holy Spirit enjoyed a loving relationship. They love and serve and enjoy each other in community. As God’s redeemed people, we can now join and participate in that loving community.

It’s something that we are going to spend the rest of our lives in eternity doing: loving each other well! It’s almost like Paul is saying: don’t get caught up in what gift you have or don’t have. These spiritual gifts aren’t going to be there in eternity. Focus on what will remain in eternity and that is going to be “Love”. As we start using more and more of our gifts within the church, let me challenge us to talk more about how can we love each other better. Let the conversations be more about how can we willingly surrender our rights for the good of the other person.

Categories
Sermon

Making much of Christ through the Commission in 2018

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/making-much-of-christ-through-the-commission-in-2018-audio.mp3″]

How do we make much of God through Christ’s Commission in 2018?

Good morning church! As you’re aware we began the year by reminding each other of the church vision statement: Because we are loved, we love and serve Christ in Community through Commission for His glory. Brother Saju spoke on how can we make much of Christ in 2018. That happens by abiding in Christ and being fully devoted to Him and his purposes individually and also as a family. Last week brother Jeff shared of how we can make much of each other in 2018. We need to contend for the unity of the church and view others with the lens of the spirit and not the flesh. Today we’ll be looking at the topic of “Commission”.

Every time I think about the word “Commission”, somehow this question comes to mind “What all would I need to do or sacrifice in order to participate in God’s mission?” Am I the only one who has thought that? The mission of God is something that has been focused right throughout Scripture, so I invite you all to join me in learning what that means for us today.

The word commission from the dictionary means an instruction or command given to a group. So we all know that in Matt 28 just before Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave his disciples some instructions: 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt 28:19-20)

It is definitely an important command that Jesus has given all of us but what I hope we’ll arrive at the end of today’s sermon is that it’s something more than a command. It’s something that defines every believer in Christ. It’s something that every believer has been wired and also empowered to do.

First let’s understand what’s the purpose of the “Commission”? For that we turn to our main passage for today:

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Pet 2:9,10)

This amazing passage has so many things we can ponder upon. It says “we are chosen by God”. Think with me for a moment what that means. If we were chosen by the President to receive the Bharat Ratna, could you imagine how amazing that would be? Yet, the Bible says that the God who created the heavens and the earth, who existed before anything else existed hand picked you to be His people! Plus the word says we are a royal priesthood. In other words, in God’s royal courts he has appointed us to be his ministers to the people on earth. That’s what an OT priest would do.

He would represent God to the people and vice-versa also represent the people to God. Further it adds that we are “holy”. People set apart for God, made morally blameless…in effect “saints”. Isn’t that mind blowing? We are saints in God’s eyes! And it says that “we are a people for his own possession”. He owns us. We are his possession. We belong to Him. Precious in His eyes. He decides what He uses us for. But did we deserve any of this? Did we do anything to earn God’s choice? Did we do anything for which God could say You are my royal priest? Did we do anything to deserve to be called saints? Did we do anything to be God’s prized possession. No, absolutely not. We lived worthless lives only deserving of judgment and hell. But God being full of grace and mercy, sent His Son Jesus Christ to save us.

Jesus Christ protected you and me from being eternally separated from God. It came at a very very high cost. It costed God the death of His Son. Jesus being perfect and dying a righteous death, rose again on the third day to give us this new identity as described in v9.

So let’s first remind ourselves, that we didn’t earn this identity. We were given this identity by grace at the highest cost. And now because Christ saved us, he owns us. So no longer our ways, our desires, our goals define us but instead Christ’s ways, Christ’s desires and Christ’s goals.

So what’s Christ’s purpose for saving us? that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Because we have been saved by immeasurable and unending grace, and because he’s given us a new, fresh, glorious identity…we will spend the rest of our lives “proclaiming” at the top of our voices, and with our lives and with our attitudes how big and how great and how awesome is He who pulled me out of sin, Satan and death and brought me into his marvelous light which is brighter than the sun.

On one hand there is the indebtedness…Oh…I’m humbled and I don’t know how to thank God enough for what He’s done and on the other hand, there is this wonderful privilege to now proclaim about this amazing God!

If that’s not enough, Peter adds another line in v10. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

We were God’s enemies at one time because of our terrible lives but now by placing our faith in Jesus…we have received mercy from God and we have also become His precious people now who are being used by God. He’s telling us to remember where we came from. Remember who you were. Remember what God did to you by sending our Savior Jesus. Remember how your life and identity has now changed.

So that’s the cause and purpose for the “Commission”. Now how does that play out in our lives? How can I “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called me out of darkness into his marvelous light?”

1. Speaking

a) Verbal proclamation of the Gospel

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

There is a going, preaching, hearing, believing and calling on the Lord. It’s very clear from this passage that people can only be saved through the gospel. And that’s why it needs to be shared. If there was any other way to save a person, God would’ve told us. The truth is there is no other way by which a man can be saved apart from preaching Christ.

People are only going to believe if the gospel is preached to them! If you’ve been praying for your colleagues or neighbors…I’d encourage us to take the next step of now sharing the gospel with them.

b) Grace-filled Conversations with unbelievers

Now this in itself is not what saves an unbeliever but shows our intentionality in opening up opportunities to present the gospel.

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Col 4;5,6)

This is an amazing verse because it reminds us to be aware when we are around unbelievers…which is a lot of the time…at the same time trying to use every opportunity to build a connect with them. How do you do it? You are seasoning your conversations with “salt”. We know salt is meant to add taste to the food. What does that mean? I don’t think it means to make your talk very attractive using big words and many facial expressions. But I think it means being wise with your words and also speaking things that encourage people rather than discourage them. The goal of speech should be to build up and benefit the other person.

Last week at work my colleague told a story of how his friend always complained of the disappointment in marriage. He kept on saying that for many days. Finally after sometime when they all went out, someone asked him privately…is your marriage really that bad? He whispered “No, not really. It’s actually great. I have to say that because everyone else is saying it. If I say my marriage is good, people might actually think something is wrong with it.”

Now it was a humorous story, but I disagree with the whole idea of talking negative things about marriage even for a joke. Marriage is a beautiful gift from God and these conversations make people more cynical about marriage. So therefore, we need to make sure that our conversations are building people up. This will open up more opportunities to share the gospel later.

The second way by which you can proclaim the excellencies of God is by having a:

2. Sanctified Life

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Pet 2:11-12)

This is something that we won’t talk about in a sermon about missions. We like to keep the two things separate: holiness and missions. However, in God’s kingdom there is no separation. God doesn’t require people who merely know how to share the gospel verbally. Anyone even an unbeliever if he is trained can share the gospel verbally. Right from the OT, God gave the Israelites the law. Why? So that they could obey and live according to God’s character and will. His purpose was that the nations around them would look at the lives and know that they worship the One true God.

That purpose of God for the holiness in his people still remains. God wants you to be holy to indicate to the unbelievers around you that you worship the One true Holy Righteous and Great God. If you go and give an unbeliever a perfect and clear illustration of the gospel but don’t live a holy life, it will not make any sense to them. They’ll probably say “If this is the kind of faith, you are calling me into then I won’t have any part in it because this is hypocrisy”. If you want to be used by God, yearn for holiness.

If you want to see a greater commitment and involvement in God’s mission, ask God to change you heart, sanctify your life, produce holiness that would align with the message that you are sharing. Does it mean that we shouldn’t share the gospel because we aren’t perfect like Christ? We will only be perfect when Christ returns but until then we pursue repentance and ask God to still use us even in our weakness.

So let it not be an excuse to not be on mission, but rather let our prayer be this way: “Lord, help me to live in obedience and purity so that the unbelievers I meet today catch a glimpse of who you are. I know I’m imperfect but Lord, you are powerful and you can change me and use me”.

The third way we can proclaim the excellencies of God is by:

3. Service

22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Col 3:22-24)

It doesn’t matter if we are working at home or in the office or studying in school…the principle remains the same. Everything that we do should be consecrated to the Lord. And so it’s not the pay-check or the environment or the people or the personal satisfaction or the position that determines how you work. It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO or an employee.

Since you are serving the Lord, work with excellence, work with sincerity and reverence! And the end-reward is going to be much more valuable than your gratuity or anything else you can buy on earth – it’s an eternal inheritance in heaven. As I read this verse especially…I’m convicted in my heart. I feel that at times I allow these other factors affect the way I work.

Other times I struggle with having the right motivation: either to be a people-pleaser or attain some selfish goal. None of that honors Christ. None of that makes Him look bigger and wonderful. And so I realize this is a place where I need to repent and ask God to give me the true fear and right motivations to work. As we do that, people will notice something different about us. They’ll think “this person doesn’t work hard for any earthly benefit, I wonder what is motivating that person”. And that provides you with another opportunity to talk about Jesus who brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

I also want to add one aspect about serving the local community as an expression of the gospel. When we care for the needs of the orphans, underprivileged and oppressed people around us we echo the heartbeat of our Savior who wants to bring relief, rescue and justice to our lives. Christ’s redeemed church needs to be open, aware and active in bringing God’s love to places where few people go.

Nothing speaks louder than sacrificial good deeds that meets the needs of those who don’t have enough to return back in kind.

It’s not just the verbal sharing of the gospel that proclaims the excellencies of God. Your sanctified life, your service, your grace filled conversations will pave the way for the gospel. This is the harmony of the missions.

I’m sure when we thought through these points we were all convicted on how we aren’t living or doing what we should. But let that not take us away from Christ, let us come back to him in repentance and in humble dependence so that we can be used mightily by Him.

Categories
Sermon

Make much of one another in the year 2018

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/jeff-sermon-14-01-2018.mp3″]

Please turn to:

2 Corinthians chapter 5
Ephesians chapter 2.

Alright — so last week Saju talked about how we can “Make much of Christ in the year 2018” (Read) Isn’t that a great topic? Just think about this:

Can you imagine if our primary devotion this year was to Jesus? Where we wouldn’t settle for just a little bit of Him. But — He’s all we want, He’s all we need, and we don’t care how following Him affects our lifestyle. We just want to live our lives ABANDONED TO HIM.

Wouldn’t that be beautiful making much of Jesus in 2018? My task this morning is to talk about COMMUNITY, and my point is very simple: Just as we are called to make much of Jesus, we are also called to make much of one another.

That’s how God designed this to work: That our lives would be sustained by a growing intimacy with Jesus Christ as we ABIDE in Him. And, that would naturally flow through us to the people around us.

In fact, I want to begin by showing you how those 2 things are inseparably linked. That’s why I want to begin by looking at this passage in Ephesians chapter 2. Let’s read this together. (Ephesians chapter 2:12-22)

Understand what Paul is saying. We were, at one time, separated from Christ and, because of that, we were alienated from the commonwealth of the people of God. In other words, our relationship with God was fractured which meant that our relationships with one another were fractured. Those 2 always go together.

But all of that changed with the reconciling work of Jesus Christ. He has reconciled us to God by His blood. What that means is when you are in Christ, there is no longer alienation from God. There is fellowship with Him!

And, because of that, it has changed our relationship to one another. It has made us fellow citizens — members of the same household. Paul says in this text that God is literally building us up together into a spiritual dwelling place with Christ at the center.

When you add all of that up, you arrive at this: Because we have been reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus Christ, reconciliation can now happen with one another.

In other words, as we make much of Christ in 2018, it will allow us to make much of one another in 2018. And, as we are making much of one another, it furthers are ability to make much of Jesus Christ (it’s symbiotic in that way).

Doesn’t that sound beautiful? Here’s the problem: when you look around, a lot of churches don’t operate that way. I can’t speak fully to the context here in Mumbai, although I would guess there are similarities to the American Church.

But in my context in America this is a stinging indictment against the church. There’s often more disunity within the walls of the church than there is outside of the church.

Where sadly, in some contexts, the church is becoming known more for it’s disunity than for its togetherness. And, if we’re going to understand why that is and how that can change, then we have to understand what’s causing disunity in the church.

Now, here’s what I want to do: I want to take a few minutes and talk a little bit about the problem that exists. And then, we’ll get to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 to discover how we can see this eradicated in the church.

Alright — let me start my making 2 statements that frame the discussion for us: 1) Unity is something that must be fought for in the church 2) Pride is the catalyst for disunity in the church.

Let me speak to each of these for a few moments.

Unity is something that must be fought for in the church.

The best way to illustrate this is by thinking of a marriage.

One of the things that I get to do as a pastor is marry young couples & handle their pre-marital counseling — (and sometimes their post-marital counseling). And one of the themes that I try to drive home with young couples who are about to enter into a marriage covenant is that a healthy, unified, Christ-exalting marriage takes A LOT of work.

And, if you’ve been married for a long time, you just “amened” that in your head because you know it’s true! And, if you haven’t been married for a long time, and you don’t yet know that, trust me: unity in a marriage doesn’t just happen, it’s something that you have to contend for.

The best marriages are the ones where the husband & wife are actively caring for & pursuing each other’s hearts as they pursue Jesus Christ. It’s just a fact.

And the exact same pattern is true as it relates to relationships within the church. If we want deeper community within our church, if we want to be defined by our unity & our oneness, then we must pursue Christ and, flowing from that, we must actively pursue unity with one another. We have to fight for it! We have to contend for it! WE HAVE TO SACRIFICE FOR IT!

“What are we supposed to sacrifice,” you ask. EVERYTHING!!! Just consider this again in terms of marriage. Think about what a marriage would like if the husband & wife interacted with each other the same way most Christians interact with their local church.

Because, a lot of Christians interact with their local church by asking these kinds of questions in their heart: “How do I benefit from this?” “How can my needs be met?” “Will this relationship cost me too much?” Questions like, “How can I be served?”

But, here’s my question: What would a marriage look like if both the husband & the wife related to each other that way? Just concerned with having their needs met. Just concerned with what they can get. I think we can agree that a marriage like that would look terrible and would be terribly disunified.

The question is, why would that be any different in the church? If we aren’t willing to sacrifice for each other, and fight for each other, and prefer one another as better than ourselves, why would we expect any sort of unity?

Church, WE MUST see unity as something to be fought for; as something to be contended for. That’s the first thing.

I don’t think I have to spend much time convincing you of the 2nd statement.

Pride is the catalyst for disunity in the church.

It’s PRIDE that drove a wedge between us and God when we tried to usurp His authority. It’s PRIDE that keeps people from God who believe that they know better and can fashion God in their own image. And it’s PRIDE that keeps us from loving one another because we tend to minimize our sin and focus on the sin of others.

Pride is a cancer that eats away at communion & fellowship. It erodes communion with God & it keeps us from experiencing true fellowship with one another.

I’ll put it simply: there is no place for PRIDE in the body of Christ! We must be reminded in our hearts that God OPPOSES THE PROUD, but GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE (Prov. 3:34 — — as quoted in James 4:6).

Pride impacts and infects everything, and it must be eradicated by the gospel over time. Where our pride gets replaced by new affections, and new delights, and new longings for God and for each other.

If that’s really going to happen, then we must begin to regard each other according to the spirit and not according to the flesh. So, what does it mean that “we must regard each other according to the spirit & not the flesh?”

Let me put it another way. We have a choice when we interact with each other: Are we going to see & respond to each other through the lens of each other’s flesh? Or, are we going to see & respond to each other through the lens of the gospel and God’s redemptive work in each other’s lives?

I’m telling you, this has everything to do with whether the church will be defined by it’s unity or it’s disunity. Whether or not it’s members are regarding each other according to the spirit or according to the flesh.

Just think about the effects of these 2 positions. When we are regarding each other according to the spirit, we are defining everything by grace and the covering that we all have in Christ. We are quick to remember who we are in Christ — (SAINTS) — and we are quick to remember that we’re all being sanctified right now progressively. That means we’re all in process, WHICH ALLOWS US TO ACTUALLY EXTEND GRACE TO EACH OTHER.

On the other hand, when we are regarding each other according to the flesh, we define everything in each other’s lives based on how we measure up to standards. We are quick to believe the lie that we are defined by how well we perform for each other. It makes us quick to judge and slow to forgive.

Regarding one another according to the spirit causes us to consider how we can walk with one another & bless one another. Regarding one another according to the flesh causes us to evaluate relationships based on how they benefit us.

Regarding one another according to the spirit causes us to seek to understand someone & extend grace to them. Regarding one another according to the flesh causes us to pre-determine that we’re right & then write the other person off in our heart. Church, I am convinced that this is what breeds disunity in the church.

I want you to turn 2 Corinthians chapter 5, where I had you mark your place. I want our hearts to hear what Paul has written to the Corinthian church on this point. Now, remember the context of the church in Corinth. It was a mess! All kinds of things were mis-firing in the church. And Paul is writing to them with a very corrective tone, but with a heart to build unity in the church & restore what had been fractured. Look at what he says starting in verse 14.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:14-19

So, what does Paul mean when he says that we no longer regard Christ according to the flesh? We all understand what he means by not regarding each other according to the flesh. But, how does this relate Jesus?

Well, let me just boil it down to this. We no longer regard Jesus according to the flesh because He has overcome Satan, sin and death. He has won! He is victorious!!!

That’s how we regard Christ: as the Lamb who was slain, BUT IS NOW STANDING, VICTORIOUS. And, through that victory Christ has made a way for us to be reconciled to God.

And, where we are reconciled to God, the old us goes away and the new us has come. And, the new us doesn’t see things according to the flesh anymore. The new us is controlled by the love of Christ. The new us seeks reconciliation at all times. The new us realizes that we don’t own anything; not even our own lives.

Church, the level of PRIDE that’s involved when we view ourselves according to the spirit but then view others according to the flesh, IS STAGGERING. That is not what Christ purchased for us. That is not what relationship with Him looks like. That will erode unity in the body of Christ.

Can I tell you what transformed my thinking on this? THE TRUTH that we have been bought by Jesus Christ, THEREFORE, we are no longer are own, THEREFORE, sacrificing for one another is nothing because we don’t own anything anymore.

Romans 14:7-8“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”

Galatians 5:13-15 “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”

When we live like we’re owners, and not stewards, of God’s stuff pride & idolatry will dictate our lives. If my position is ever that fighting for unity & regarding one another according to the spirit is going to cost too much of:

My time, and my money, and my emotional energy, and my comfort, and my desires… Then I’m moving from the wrong position. There’s too much of the word, “MY” in all of that.

Categories
Sermon

Make much of Christ in the year 2018

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/make-much-of-christ-in-the-year-2018-audio.mp3″]

The reality of life is its slipping away from our hands, every passing day is a day less in our lives, our lives are limited on this earth, we don’t even know how many days are left for us to live on this earth.

When I look at my own days from the time I was born, until today. I don’t even know how the first 20 years of my life just went by, the next 10 years I spent figuring out what life is all about, fighting to get a college degree, trying to figure out what I want to do in life and getting married.

The next 9 years were spent looking after the family, providing for my children, serving in the church in whatever measure I could invest my time & energy.

This month I’ll turn 39, almost touching 40.

When I look back at my life, I’m definitely thankful to God that he led me, provided for me, and still takes care of me. I feel good that I found my purpose, my passion, the right place and the right people in my life that I feel good about.

But one thing that makes me feel sad is when I think why it took such a long time for me to arrive at this stage in my spiritual life, where I feel I’m now steady and stable. I know what I need from life and where I need to focus.

But I wish I was here when I was 25, I wish I had the energy and youthfulness I had when I was 25 to do more and achieve more for the Kingdom. Because I feel I wasted a lot of time chasing after the world and deprived myself of God and Seeking His Kingdom first in my life.

As I had these thoughts running through my mind while preparing today’s sermon I was also encouraged in my spirit that it is not too late. God will use the remaining years of my life for his glory and I want to be obedient and crazy from him then I’ve ever been before.

Similarly, I now want you all to think about your lives. And I want you to do it by answering the following questions in your mind.

Q1. How old are you?
Q2. How many years do you think you have in hand?
Q3. What is the immediate need in your life that you think will bring instant joy in your life?
Q4. To what extend are you willing to go to achieve that immediate need in your life?

A1. Obviously, You know your age.
A2. You don’t have any clue on how many days you have in hand. Only God does. Today can be the last day of your life.
A3. The thing that you are seeking for right now (it could be a job, a life-partner, a particular sum of money, an educational qualification, an inheritance from your parents, a business contract, promotion etc). Trust me, I say this out of my experience, these things will never bring lasting joy, the joy your soul is longing for. Once you have it, your heart will desire for more… it is a never-ending saga.

Think about the different kinds of people in our world.
– People who have money, yearn for relationships.
– People who have relationships, yearn for money.
– People who have jobs, yearn for promotion.
– People who have huge business contracts and good paying jobs, yearn for peace of mind.
– People who have a good educational qualification, yearn for a good job.

A4. If your answer to Q4 is “I’m willing to give and do anything to have my immediate desire been fulfilled”, then I want to ask you why is it that you want to give your all to achieve something that is not a source of real joy and satisfaction for life, maybe it can give momentary joy.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t give your best to achieve things in life, my question is why would you give all of yourself to something that, at the end of your life will be of zero value.

Wouldn’t you like to give your time, money, strength to something that is of true value, and a source of everlasting & eternal joy?

So, my job today as we begin this New Year is to point our hearts to the only true source of joy and fulfillment, an eternal one.

Brother & sisters, it is CHRIST and only Christ who is, and will ever be our true source of joy, happiness, and fulfillment.

It is not just about been happy on earth. The new testament indicates, that there’s another reason we need Jesus. There is a God who is altogether holy, who is perfectly just, and who declares that he is going to judge the world and hold every human being accountable for their life.

As a perfectly holy and just God, he requires for each one of us a life of perfect obedience and of perfect justness.

And it is only through Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross that we can receive acceptance from our creator God, which we can never achieve ourselves.

Jesus lived the perfect life of obedience and justness on our behalf and took our sins on himself and died in our place. When we believe this truth and put our faith in him, our sins are forgiven and the righteousness of Christ comes upon us, and we become holy and acceptable to God.

And therefore, I want to begin this new year by encouraging you to Make much of Christ in the year 2018. The passage that I want to point our hearts to is John 15:1-11 where Jesus saying…

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Here are a couple of things I want our hearts to remember and we make much of Christ in this coming year.

  1. Always remember that Jesus is the true vine (v.1), the only source that connects us with the vinedresser, God, the creator who made, knows us, loves us, cares for us and sent us to this earth for a purpose.
  2. As we continue to make much of Christ, we will be pruned every day (v.2). Through sufferings, struggles, pain, loss, discouragements, so we can bear much fruit. Romans 5:3-5 Pauls reminds us to rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
  3. We will fail to see & produce fruit if we fail to abide in Christ (v.4-5)
  4. There is a consequence if we fail to Abide in Christ (v.6)
  5. As you make much of Christ and abide in him, you can ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Obviously, it has to be God’s will for your life as well. (v.7)
  6. When you make much of Christ by abiding in him and bear fruit for him and prove to be the disciples of Jesus, God is glorified.
  7. Obedience is the main thing, if you are unwilling to change and obey his commandments then nobody can help you in anyways. (v.10)

Here are some practical ways in which we can make much about Christ in this coming year.

As an individual…

– By seeking him daily through prayer and devotion
– By loving him more than anything or anybody in life
– By doing our best to present ourselves to him as one approved, unashamed and able to rightly handle the word of truth.

As a family…

– By trusting him for your needs, whether financial, health or whatever your need in life
– By seeking him as a family in devotion and prayer
– By serving him as a family in whatever capacity each one of you can contribute. Just like Joshua who said me and my household will serve the Lord.

At our workplace…

– By acknowledging him and his presence and having fellowship with him while at work
– By joyfully submitting to our earthly master as unto the Lord, giving your best at all times
– By trusting him as your provider and guide.

As you make much of Christ in the year 2018, my desire and prayer is that you are blessed abundantly and bountifully, that God would enlarge your territories and make your face shine, and even use you in unspeakable and unimaginable ways for his glory.

Categories
Articles

A serious calling

1 Corinthians 9:26-27So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

The call to serve the Lord is serious and requires 100% commitment.

Paul’s tone in this passage reflects his seriousness & commitment towards his calling.

He is focused on his goals, unwilling to compromise, unwilling to give in to his fleshly desires, unwilling to fail or give-up in any condition.

Where does Paul get his strength and determination from?

In 1 Corinthians 2:2 he writes “I determined to know nothing while I was with you – except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified”

In Philippians 4:13 he says “I can do all things through him (Christ) who strengthens me”

Paul also encourages the church in Rome in Romans 12:11 saying “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in Spirit, serve the Lord”

Paul’s determination comes from knowing Christ and his saving grace.

It is Christ, his compelling love that pushes us to live a determined life, fulfill our calling and purpose for which we are created.

Do you realize that we too have this great privilege just like Paul, to draw strength from our relationship with Christ?

If you do, then I want to encourage you to go to him every day and ask for his Spirit, to help, to guide and lift you up to achieve great things for the Kingdom of God.

Categories
Sermon

The Hope for the Lost, Unlikely and Unloved in God’s Kingdom – Mark 2:13-17

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/The-Hope-for-the-Lost-Unlikely-and-Unloved-in-Gods-Kingdom-Mark-2-13-17-audio.mp3″]

Good morning church! And a happy new year in advance. What a year 2017 has been! We praise God for his mercy and faithfulness toward us on the last day of this year. As Saju and I were discussing what to preach on this week, I was wondering if I had to take another passage on account of the new year. However, as I read this passage I realized how apt this message was for us as we move into the new year. So before we jump into the passage, I wanted to ask all of you some questions. How many of us would like to really experience the joy of following Jesus? How many of us would like to understand God’s economy in terms of who is accepted and who is rejected? How many of us really want to see God use us this year for His glory? I believe this passage answers all of those questions.

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

There are three things we understand about the heart and character of Jesus from this passage. The first thing is:

1. Christ pursues the lost

14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. (v14)

Especially in our church circles we’ve heard the word “lost” so many times that now we’ve lost the meaning of lost. The word “lost” doesn’t have too much of an impact on us anymore. When the Bible uses the word “lost”, it’s always in a sense where God is searching for his “lost sheep, lost Son, lost coin”. So how do we understand “lost” when we think about Levi/Matthew. This verse tells us that Levi was a tax collector. Now tax collectors in the Roman empire were hated by the Jews in Jesus’ day.

They were seen as people who were greedy and partnered with the Roman government which the people never liked anyway. These tax collectors would amass a lot of wealth by cheating people and charging high interests much more than what the Roman government would ask for. They were also known to be very harsh with the people.

Therefore, tax collectors had a very bad reputation among the Jews in those days. Nobody liked them. They were unloved and plus I’m sure they carried around the guilt of cheating several people. It’s interesting and humbling to see that Levi was even noticed by Jesus! The movie “Son of God” had a wonderful scene picturing this story.

They showed it as when Jesus passes by, he notices Levi at the tax booth. Jesus looks intently into his eyes, and calls him to follow him. You can see tears flow down Levi’s face because he can’t believe that Jesus – being so Holy and Powerful instead of judging him actually invites him to be his disciple!

If you’re probably thinking today, “I don’t think God can love me after all that I’ve done. Nobody could possibly forgive me for all the wrongs I’ve committed”. Or probably you’re thinking “I’ve not really seen true commitment and devotion to God in my life so far.” Or you’re thinking “I’m the last person for God to approach me because I am an unlikely and unfit candidate”. Let me tell you on the basis of the Word, that in God’s economy the worst, most unlikely, most unloved in world can actually be accepted and transformed!

Why would God show mercy and not judgement? It’s because Christ himself took the punishment for sins and open the doors of God’s mercy and love to flow toward us. It’s not on the basis of what any human has done or will ever do. Our acceptance before God is totally on the basis of Christ’s perfect life and perfect sacrifice and perfect triumph over death on our behalf.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8,9)

Another application could also be in terms of evangelism. When was the last time we shared the gospel with someone who was hated, an unloved and unlikely person to respond to the gospel? Let’s not write off certain people because they don’t fit our expectations. This understanding of Christ pursuing the lost, the unlikely, the unloved should remove any barriers or thoughts to reach out to certain groups of people that we may be uncomfortable with.

2. Christ desires followers and not crowds

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. (v13-15)

One thing we notice as we are reading through the book of Mark is that crowds – people in large numbers come to Jesus. Right from the moment Jesus cast out that demon from the man in the synagogue you find multitudes of people coming to Jesus to witness these miracles. But you never find them being described as followers except for Simon, Andrew, James and John. The majority of the people are always referred to as “the crowd” or as many people gathered together or as people coming to him. Here with Levi and the tax collectors and sinners in v15: we see them “following Jesus”. My immediate question is what’s the difference between followers of Jesus and just being in the crowd?

Two things we can see in this passage:

1) Willing and total surrender of everything that his life was built upon

Or as Saju put it a few weeks back…it’s an exchange of dreams and pursuits. Think about this…Levi till that point probably made a lot of money by cheating people. His life was probably built on wealth and his identity as a tax collector. As soon as Jesus invited him to follow him, he didn’t think twice, he didn’t take days to discuss with his family and decide if he wanted to follow Jesus.

The Bible says that he rose and followed him. It meant that Levi had to give up his identity, his wealth, his purpose in life, his pleasures in life and most importantly the control of his life. He gave it up to follow Jesus and become like Him. And that’s a radical decision not just for him personally but it would’ve impacted even his family.

2) Close fellowship with the Savior

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

Being welcomed into a person’s house and reclining at the table meant close friendship in those days. It was a big deal for Jesus to go to his home and eat with him. That’s what made the Pharisees unhappy…they couldn’t figure why Jesus would want to become friends with men of bad reputation. When Jesus invited Levi to follow him, he didn’t just invite him to be his companion while he went and preached in different cities – that would’ve been just a work relationship. This was far more deeper. Jesus intended to have a close relationship with Levi and change him through that.

These two things: willing surrender and close fellowship with Jesus is what makes you a follower of Jesus. And that was something that the crowd didn’t have. They would’ve been satisfied just seeing Jesus as a chamatkari baba but Jesus wanted to reveal Himself as the everlasting God, Mighty King, Creator of heaven and earth, sustainer of everything and Savior of the world. And you can only know that through willing surrender of your life and close fellowship with Him.

If you’re not wanting to do that, you can’t be a follower and you’re merely a person in the crowd. It’s like going to a Hillsong concert totally singing all the songs and having a great time but you’re just the crowd and not a follower of Jesus. And the same thing can happen on a Sunday morning where we can be part of the crowd and still not followers. What are we to do? Willing surrender and come to Jesus for fellowship with Him and not the benefits that Jesus offers.

Let your cry each morning be: Lord, I want to know you more! Lord, I want to love you more. Lord, I want close fellowship with you as I read the Bible today. I want to willingly surrender everything that my life is built on for the sake of your glory.

3. Christ responds to those who truly need Him

16 And the scribes of[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus’ response to the Pharisees/teachers question was that he has come for the spiritually sick and sinners and not the righteous. What?

When Jesus said he has not come to call the righteous he was referring to those who were self-righteous. They thought they would be made right with God on the basis of their external religion and their own efforts. They thought “if I try to follow all these commands and the law by my own strength, then I can be accepted by God”. And what is God response? “Your righteous acts are like filthy rags”. (Isa 64:6)

On the basis of Rom 3:23, we know that both the Pharisees and the tax collectors needed Jesus to save them. But what was the problem? The Pharisees didn’t recognize that they had a disease – a destructive spiritual disease that separated them from God and they couldn’t do anything to remove that from them. They didn’t understand their need for Jesus – the Savior because they thought they were already right and accepted before God. They couldn’t have been more wrong about their position and condition before God.

We end up reflecting this self-righteous nature whenever we end up being critical of someone else’s walk with Jesus and ignore our own need for Jesus or the issues that take place in our own heart which needs to be confessed. In other words, you spend more time talking about the other person’s sins than confessing your own. You will do all the Christian stuff and attend all Christian events but there’s no desperate cry for repentance and change in your individual life. Why? We’ve concealed all those sins with our self-righteous deeds (filthy rags).

If we’re in that position today, we need to repent of our self-reliance and desperately seek and ask for Christ’s help and perfect sacrifice to make us acceptable before God. I find it a good exercise to ask myself when was the last time I repented openly and humbly before God. The more frequent and authentic your repentance is, the more precious Jesus seems to you.

The tax collectors and sinners on the other hand already knew how condemned and sinful they were. They were more open to receiving salvation because they understood their helplessness. Only a miracle could save them. And Jesus Christ performed that miracle when he died on the cross for our sins! If you relate more to the “tax collector” than the Pharisee, let me still remind you that that even though you know you are a condemned sinner – it still requires humility to repent before God.

You could still be arrogant and not change your ways – continue sinning as you always have. The humility part is in acknowledging that you have been living a life against the will and character of God. Furthermore, the humility is in helplessly running toward Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to rescue you from your life of rebellion. What would you do if you were caught in a building that has caught fire? You will shout and scream for “help”. If a fireman comes to save you, will you run away from him? Absolutely not! You would run to him, hold onto him until he brings you to safety.

Would you dare to come up with their own plans or defy the instructions of the fireman? No, it would cost you your life. It requires your humility in those moments to trust in the fireman and not yourself to bring you to safety. How much more humility should we show to our Creator who made us and then who saved us with His own precious blood?

Categories
Articles

A good desire

1 Corinthians 8:2“If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.”

What’s a good desire to have? – To know everything or to know the one who knows everything?

The latter sounds like a better and perfect desire to me, to know the one who knows everything. And all I have to do is to love Him.

Loving Him means accepting His love for us displayed through His son Jesus and trusting him and his finished work on the cross which in fact enables us to love the Father, our creator, the one who knows everything, with all our heart, mind and soul. This is also our ultimate goal and purpose for life.

Our greatest joy and satisfaction is tied up with us loving him.

So, let us cultivate this healthy desire to daily love God and appreciate his expression of love displayed through his son Jesus and admonish the good life we have in Him.