What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?- Romans 8:31
In Christ, we are a new creation. We need to let go of our old do-it-yourself life. The best thing to do is to give it a decent burial.
We wrestle with our emotions during times of struggle and despair. Jesus never told us that we wouldn’t have problems. However, he has promised us that He will be right with us in the midst of all the despair and take us through it.
The same Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is in us when we put our faith in his life and resurrection. This resurrected life which we received from God is not a timid, grave tending life. It is an adventure, greeting God with a childlike, ” What’s next Papa?”.
There is no comparison between the present hard time and coming good times. Even when we do not know what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us. Jesus knows our deepest longing.
God proved his love for us when he put everything on the line for us by giving his only Son so that he can embrace us. In that case, will he not bring you out of a difficult situation? Nothing is impossible with God.
I request you if there is anything which is a burden to you, start over this time with God.
This means to let go of the do-it-yourself project and give it to Jesus. Surrender. Relinquish control and acknowledge Jesus to take over, depending on His strength.
His Word reminds us that He works all things for our good.
Jesus, we are weak. But we know that in our weakness you are strong. We do not have control over the situation. We relinquish the reigns of our life and surrender to you. Lord, you have made us new. Thank you that you are for us and we can trust in your goodness. Love you Jesus. Amen.
Being in the lockdown, I have come to appreciate the stillness, something I am not used to. Life gets so busy and it’s like a monotonous routine. I almost felt like a hamster on a wheel.
This period of rest has enabled me to slow down and appreciate the things I wouldn’t notice because of busyness such as the birds outside my window, the sounds of them chirping every morning.
Moreover, me wondering and reflecting as I used to when I was a child, I was so easily amazed at what I was learning. Growing up I somehow lost that and I feel like God is bringing me back to that place where I can be in awe of Him.
In one of my conversations with my dear friend I mentioned- ” Do you ever wonder why we say best friends Forever or I love you Forever?
You know it’s not strange that we long for Forever cause it is God who created us with that longing. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 it’s written: God has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
So our longing is legit but somehow we try to fill this longing with earthly things and people who are temporary and can never satisfy this longing for eternity. For only the eternal One can satisfy this longing for eternity planted by Him in our Hearts.
You may wonder how’s this ever possible as we see that we don’t live forever. To address that Bible says For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23.
All have sinned so all die but God made a solution through His son Jesus Christ that whoever believes in Him shall live everlasting life, even though they may die the Spirit will live an eternal life with Christ. So God alone thru Christ can fulfill this longing in our hearts.
I hope that we may take time to reflect and wonder about our purpose and meaning in life. May we be open to see that eternal life is available only thru Jesus Christ as He paid the price for all our sins thru His death on the cross and resurrection.
May we not look to earthly things to satisfy the longing of eternity which can only be satisfied in Christ. May our gaze be fixed on Him and may our heart be anchored in Him to love Him and treasure Him for all of eternity.
Good
morning brothers and sisters! I’m sure all of us have experienced a really
emotionally difficult last week with the passing away of our brother. Even as
we are grieving with Punit’s family and all of you, do pray that God would give
us the grace to share His heart.
As elders as we were trying to figure what to share, we arrived on this topic of Hope. Every person on the face of this earth (believer OR unbeliever) is living by some kind of ultimate hope. Either it’s a hope for a better life in the future.
Either it’s a hope to be happily married to someone. Either it’s a hope to get a well paying, stable job. Either it’s a hope to buy a nice home someday. Or it’s a hope to move to another foreign country and settle there. These hopes drive our lives.
These hopes control our goals and ambitions in life. And so as we were trying to answer this question – what drives us to a point of utter despair? The answer isn’t actually a lack of hope but the fact that we’ve been trusting in a false hope. This false hope promises alot, but it never really delivers. And that’s why we despair.
In the background of all that happened this week even as we are dealing with grief and many unanswered questions in our hearts, I want us to ask ourselves “What am I hoping on? What is driving all the decisions that I make in my life? What am I hoping for which will give me true happiness?”
Even as we are thinking through the question, the Bible
actually offers a real lasting hope called “Gospel Hope”. Let’s try to
understand that through the passage from Psalm 42.
1. Gospel hope helps us to acknowledge the brokenness
in our lives
Many times we imagine people filled with hope as people
who are always happy, calm and unmoved by the sin and suffering in their lives
and around them. But that’s a false picture & I want to tells us that
Gospel Hope actually is quite different from that – it acknowledges the
brokenness and is not in denial of the brokenness. In this very Psalm we see
different ways in which the Psalmist acknowledges his brokenness:
A) Acknowledging the distance with God
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My
soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When
shall I come and appear before God? (v1,2)
I think many times we interpret this passage as a call to be desperate in our relationship for God but also when I read the context I realized that his desperation was because the Israelites were exiled away from their land as a result of their idolatry and sin.
We know that in the OT – access to God and God’s presence among them was signified by the Jerusalem temple. And now when they are exiled and in a foreign land as captives, there is this dryness that the Psalmist is experiencing in his relationship with God and he longs to come back to God’s Temple to relate and worship God more deeply.
Now this is pre-cross in the OT, but let’s recognize the principle that true Gospel hope frees us to be able to acknowledge the season of dryness and emptiness in our souls. We don’t have to be in a perfect-believers to be able to have Hope.
This past few months I’ve experienced dryness and emptiness multiple times in my relationship with God. But I usually play that down by telling myself – at least I’m reading my Bible, at least I’m ministrering to other believers in the church, at least I’m sharing this with other believers so I think that’s alright.
But I would often forget is that we can honestly pour out our own dryness of our souls before a God who hears & responds. In fact as we will see later on, this Gospel Hope is what restores and rejuvenates our dryness.
B) Acknowledging the distance with God’s people
4
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I
would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of
God
with
glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
As the
Psalmist is looking backwards, he remembers that time when he was one of the
main worship leaders leading God’s people into the temple. And now as a result
of being in exile and displaced from their land as a result of the people’s
sin, he now longs for the faith community. Right now as a result of the
pandemic, the fact is that we’ve been displaced from our normal pattern of meeting
together and fellowshipping with each other. And yes, it’s quite possible that
a result of this lockdown and the sin of our hearts that loves isolation, that
we can experience a distance with God’s people. It’s important to acknowledge
that but also let this psalm encourage us to pray and cry out with longing to
God – asking God to once again open the doors and means for us to meet
together, sing worship songs together, break bread together, cry with each
other, hug each other, encourage each other & challenge each other in the
Lord. And even right now if we are experiencing that distance, ask God to
redeem that and create avenues to enjoy genuine fellowship in this season. I
would say in our Gospel Community, we have actually seen more openness and vulnerability
in these last 5 months than prior to that. God is able to redeem this season
for you and me.
C)
Acknowledge our pain & helplessness within
3 My
tears have been my food
day and night,
5 Why
are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
7
Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all
your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
The
Psalmist isn’t hiding his pain and helplessness. He’s not pretending to be
alright when he’s not. He’s not in denial of the troubles that are overwhelming
him.
How does
that kind of transparency and vulnerability come about? And I think that’s
possible when we realize that we are not self-sufficient, all-knowing,
all-powerful and ever-present. It happens when we realize that God is God and
we are not. And I feel like that’s counter-cultural for many of us. We’ve grown
up and been trained in a culture where expressing any kind of pain and
helplessness is looked down upon. So we are tempted to live our Christian lives
that way – we wear our best clothes on Sunday and put on our best smile on
Sunday and we sugar coat the pain and helplessness that we experience through
the week. And this prevents us from getting the help that we need from God and
from each other. Gospel Hope tells us that God knows everything about us – He
knows our sins & our weaknesses that we will playout through our entire
lifetime & yet He sent His Son to come after us. We can be absolutely
honest with God – something I feel in this season that God is pointing my heart
towards.
4)
Acknowledge Hostility from the outside
while
they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?” (v3b)
10 As
with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while
they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
It’s not always pain that we experience pain from within but sometimes it comes from the outside. Sometimes the taunts of the world (maybe it could be family members that are unbelievers, it could be colleagues at work or college, or it could be some hostile neighbours) which can hurt & affect us.
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12) We see out here that is invariably going to happen to every true believer in Christ. But as we acknowledge our weakest moments before God, the Lord’s presence will be more intimately revealed to us.
In the book of Acts, it’s amazing to see the journey of Paul from being a murderer zealous for the Jewish traditions to now being a follower of Jesus zealous for God’s glory. After his conversion, we see him boldly proclaiming the gospel to big and small people alike.
It didn’t matter how many people or who all persecuted him, he continued to boldly preach the gospel. But I love the fact that Scripture also tells us of moments of vulnerability like in Acts 23. After spending time in a Jerusalem prison, facing multiple hearings and fierce accusations, at that low point of discouragement, there this amazing verse in v11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
Right across Scripture – whenever God says “Take courage” – it’s a response of care and encouragement to His people who are discouraged. That should encourage us to not hide the pain of hostility and opposition to a Lord who stands near us and encourages us!
But
not only does Gospel Hope help us acknowledge the brokenness in our lives but
it also
2.
Gospel Hope helps us express our doubts and despair
9 I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
Sometimes when we read the Psalms, it surprises us with the kind of candid, open questions of doubt and laments. “Why have you forgotten me? One might think that’s not the way we talk to God and yet this is part of Scripture.
I think the reason behind this lies in the phrase “I say to God, my rock”. Rock was a symbol of security and refuge. And I think the reason why the Psalmist feels open enough to express this is because of the security in the relationship with God.
There is so much of security in the relationship, that allows the Psalmist to express what he is thinking and feeling.
Now we
know that not always do our thoughts and emotions accurately reflect and
respond to the character of God. But I find it astounding that God would create
a space for us to express that and reason with him.
God
tells Isaiah in Isa 1:18 –“Come now, let us reason[c] together,
This is
an amazing truth because God really delights in our relationship and wants to
relate with us as personal beings. We are not just robots following orders but
we are created for a deep, intimate relationship. There’s security in our relationship with God
to express what is in our heart and mind. The end goal in our relationship is
not for us keeping ranting to God, but grow in intimacy.
And
that’s why we meditate on Scripture daily & walk with God, because He will
use all that to shape our hearts to be able to pray more in line to His heart
and character.
Because of the great security that we share with Christ- “no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28), there can be greater room for honesty in our relationship with God.
We don’t have to go through a filter process to figure which question, which doubt, which thought deserves to be shared with God. Allow God to filter that through Scripture and the Spirit’s work in your life.
But
not only does Gospel Hope help us acknowledge the brokenness in our lives &
not only does it help us express our doubts and despair
3.
Gospel hope is hope because it is centred around God
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
This is the main thing – brothers and sisters. When we encounter a season or multiple seasons of despair, let’s remember that the solution will be found not in any false hope in the world:
not relationships,
not our family,
not our jobs,
not our bank balances and
not even our pleasures
– they are all going to leave us empty & shattered. The only solution that will help us is the permanent and objective Hope of the Gospel.
When we
look at v11, the Psalmist is not saying “Put your hope in God and everything
will be fine “hopefully”. It’s not optimism or positive thinking. He says “Hope
in God – for I shall again praise him (in the Temple courts), and the reason
for His Hope is because He knows His God and He knows what His God can do.
We recognize that the pain, grief and despair we experience is a result of what happened in the Garden of Eden. It’s not the way that God had designed our lives to be.
When we think about what happened to Punit, that was not how God intended for His life. We know that all of this is a result of the darkness that is there inside our souls and also in our world. We are all broken.
It’s so amazing that instead of leaving us in our state of brokenness and self-destruction, that the Son of God Jesus makes His entry into this broken world to introduce us to Gospel Hope.
Take a look at the description of Jesus in a prophecy that was made hundreds of years before his birth:
He
was despised and rejected[b] by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
and
as one from whom men hide their faces[f]
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet
we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon
him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
Here is our God not alien to the world of despair and grief, but He Himself experienced the full impact of the brokenness. And then as a response to fix the brokenness and reverse what had happened in the Garden, He gave up His life on the cross for you and me & rose victoriously from the grave on the third Day – to get us our Gospel Hope and healing not for a few years but for all of eternity.
Today we stand in the middle of that Story post cross and pre-Jesus’ Second coming. And that’s why it is a Certain, objective, permanent Hope. If God can step into my broken world and sacrifices His own life to rescue me, then I know I can live in Gospel Hope.
23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who
promised is faithful. (Heb 10:23)
Can our God ever be unfaithful? No.
Can our God lie? No.
Can our God change His promises & plans according to what is convenient? No.
Because He is our Faithful God,
we can now have Gospel Hope which will never disappoint us. Even in our weakest of moments, God is still faithful. Even in our struggles with sin, God is still faithful. Even if we are humiliated and hurt, God is still faithful. Even if we lose our job and our money, God is still faithful. Even if the whole world deserts us, God is still faithful. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, if He is your Hope, then know that your story will not end in brokenness but on the Day when Jesus comes back again we will be made perfect, like our Savior.
Proverbs 4:21- “Let [my words] not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.”
The fan in my living room was making a squeaky noise this entire day. It was very irritating at first but then I got used it. However, while putting myself to sleep in the night, the noise became so clear that it induced irritation and anxiety in me, especially as I am a light sleeper.
When it got too much to handle, I stumbled upon the earphone besides me. Surprisingly when I put the earphones I couldn’t hear the squeaky sound of the fan. I heaved a sigh of relief.
I didn’t move somewhere else nor did the fan squeaking stop. I just did some noise cancellation.
God’s words are the earphones we need to cancel the unnecessary babble of everyday life. We don’t need to move.
Psalm 46:10 says ” Be still and know that I am God.” Jesus brought heaven down.
When our sin was great, His love was greater. When we fill ourselves with God’s word, we will be able to counter the lies which the devil speaks in our ears. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy and he does this a lot of times by instilling fear in us.
However, we serve the Lord, whose name itself is so powerful. The Word empowers us to detect error; it sets us free from sin (John 8:32-34).
It grows us up spiritually (1 Peter 2:2), equips us for ministry and enables us to pray according to the will of God.
Therefore, be full of God’s word.
Lord, thank you for reminding us time and again of your unchanging love. Fill us with your Word. Help us, with the power of the Holy Spirit, to hear you with our spiritual ears, meditate on your Word with our hearts, obey your Word and finally bear fruit unto you.
We all like looking good. No one ever posts an ugly picture of themselves. We always dress pretty to look our best in the world. And I am guilty of all of these things. I have heard people say as long as you’re not harming someone or if you do good things you’re a good person.
But I believe that this is far from the truth. We are deeper than the things we see. Our motivations, intentions and thoughts are visible to a God who is Holy and Righteous. If I was to be extremely honest I am nowhere close to being good before a Holy God.
Being a Christian, makes me see the beauty of God in Christ who selflessly sacrificed His only Son as a payment for our sins. At the same time, there is a growing awareness of the selfishness of my heart, the constant need to control and have things my way.
And the depth of wretchedness and sin rooted in my heart and the facade placed to cover these things with seemingly good acts.
I am glad that God is a loving Father who loves us so deeply that He doesn’t want us to remain in the darkness. He shines His light through scriptures and the Holy Spirit in these dark and ugly places of our heart to save us. It’s like the moment we realise that we are sick we can go to the doctor for help.
The same way the moment we realise our hearts are sick we can run to God to redeem it. I have realised even in life a child looks up to his parent for help. I am glad I can look up to a Heavenly Father to rescue me when my heart is in a mess.
There’s a beautiful story from the Bible I want to share to paint a picture before you –
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.
Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied. Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, cancelling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said.
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet.
You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only a little love.”
Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?” And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.
There was a time I didn’t know Christ and I was my own Savior until I hit rock bottom I didn’t realise I needed God to save me. The moment I realised God loves me and has paid the penalty for my sins through Christ. It was a life-changing experience for me.
I was lifted out of the darkness and brought into the light. I was dead inside and this good news brought life and hope in my soul. It’s the greatest news ever and one I need to remember every day cause I need a Savior to rescue me from sin every day.
Just like the woman above to understand that our sins which are many are forgiven much by a Holy God through Christ. This kind of unconditional love and acceptance of Christ alone can transform our sinful hearts to love and worship Him with undivided devotion and be like Him through His Holy Spirit.
Good morning church, it is truly a joy to
see all of you face to face at this moment.
A. Heavenly Father is the Giver of all good and perfect gift.
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights. (a).
Every (all, the whole, every kind of)
Good and Perfect gift-
All Amazing blessings we received in our life are good and perfect gift.
Is from above (God). Our heavenly Father is a generous Giver. (Giving is one of His character). All uncountable and bountiful blessings we received in our life is from Him.
I want to categories in four ways.
1.Father greatest gift is His son Jesus
His only Son Jesus. John 3:16.
“For God so love the world that He Gave His only begotten Son whosoever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
Remember who we were. We were all dead in sin and trespasses; we were children of darkness, We were slave to sin; we were living in the lust of the flesh, We were enemy of God; we were separate from God, We were children of wrath; we were living without hope.
We were the most miserable, wretched people in the planet. We all have sin and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
Romans 5:8 says, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The dead of Christ was substitution for sinners, He was punish in place of us, He was crushed for our iniquities. He redeem us from the slavery of sin and freed us from eternal condemnation, freed us from slavery of sin and dead.
Now we have living Hope in Christ, we are Gods beloved Child and we have eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:1 says. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2 Cor.5:17 says. Therefore, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Romans 8:38-39. Says.
38. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39. nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus Our Lord.
Church let us praise God for “Great Salvation” this is the greatest and
the perfect gift from our heavenly father.
2. The fruit of Spirit in our
life.
Gal.
5:22-23.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
God
want us to bear this fruit in our life whoever life right life with God bear
fruit of the Spirit
They
have Christ love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self control.
This fruit of spirit will give satisfaction to your heart. Many people around you will be blessed through the fruit of Spirit in you.
Most importantly God’s name will highly be exalted and glorified.
3. Heavenly wisdom, knowledge and
understanding.
Proverb.
2:6.
“For the Lord gives wisdom;from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
We need God’s wisdom and knowledge and understanding in our daily life. King Solomon says God’s wisdom is like a tree of life. Proverb 3
All kind of blessings bears in that tree. It’s like you open a gift box and in the gift box you get all you need in life. When we open the gift in proverb 3 we can find lots of amazing blessings.
1.Long
life, riches and honour.
2.It
will bring healing to your body.
3.Peaceful
life will be your
4.You
will find favour before God.
5.You
will walk securely and your foot will not stumble.
6.You
will have a sweet sleep.
7.The
Lord will be your confidence.
God is good
4. God’s
unconditional blessings in life.
John 15:18 says,“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
Matthew 6: Jesus says, If He take cares of the birds in the air, lilies in the field, He has promise that He will take care of us.
Illustration:
When I look back my childhood life. I had lots of up and down, it was an excruciating journey,
I am the eldest son of eight
siblings, my father was a pastor in a small village near Myanmar border, my mom
and dad work very hard to feed all their 8 children and they never give up to
give an education to their children.
Those days my dad’s only income was to go to jungle kill animals and sell the animal’s meat and support us for education for our food.
They also have few chickens and pigs, they sale them and support us.
We walk 2 days by foot to reach a small town to get education and during, vacation we come home and help mom and dad. Our life was hard, many a time we were not allow to attend classes and the institution send us home because we did not pay school fees.
However, God never forsake us, His favour was in all of us.
He supplied all our needs at His perfect timing. We experience God’s unconditional love and His amazing blessings in all our ways.
I came to Mumbai after my 12 standard, I was admitted in Wilson college for Bachelor degree but I was not able to continue my study because there was no one to look after me and I was not able to support myself too, so I drop and start working in Hotel.
My heartbreak and my dream was all shatter. But one day I met one pastor, he told me if I want to study bible, I was not sure about my calling. I keep praying for many days and months
Finally, God open a door for me to go for theology studies, God supply all my seminary expenses and now I am here.God is so good, He is good all the time, I mean it; I have tasted His wonderful love and grace. Praise God.
After seminary, I came to Mumbai, and I was taking care of small church.
I came to know I am not a boy anymore, you know It was time for me to get marry
with my sweet high school classmate. However, the challenging part was, I was
not getting any salary for my full time ministry in the church, things were
pretty hard to plan for wedding.
I was not even able to maintain my minimum bank balance. Which is
Rs.1000, when I check my bank balance I have only Rs 400.
I told Phila I had Rs.400 in my account, and I remind how God has supply
our needs and how He has bless us with all good things in my family life and in
my personal life.
We just knelt down and start praying, when the perfect time come all our needs are supplied and we are overjoyed with all the amazing blessings of our heavenly Father.
Jesus promises in
John 15:18 says,“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
Matthew 6: Jesus says, If He take cares of the birds in the air, lilies in the field, He has promise that He will take care of us.
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights. (a).
Not only that, we have many uncountable good and perfect gifts from God.
# The fruit of Spirit that bears in our life is an amazing blessing from
God.
Galatians 5:22-23.
# Wisdom and knowledge and understanding we received from God.
Application:
Psalm 103:1-2 says
Bless the Lord, O my
soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His
benefits;
There is a hymn “Count your blessing name them one by one.”
Let us not forget all the blessings we have received from our heavenly
Father.
Let us praise God for, the great salvation, for the life we are living,
family,
The food on the table, house, friends, for our country India, for the
constitution for the freedom we have.
Let us praise God for all the bountiful blessings we received in our
daily life.
Let us praise God for His unchanging Goodness.
B. Heavenly Father Goodness never change.
“Who does not
change like shifting shadows?” (17b).
God does not change;
this is one of His character.
Theologian and writer,
Louis Berkhof define Unchangeableness of
God this way “God is unchanging in His Being,
perfection, purpose, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and
he acts and feels differently in response to different situation.”
Malachi 3:6 says, “For
I the LORD do not change.”
Being – God does not change in His being; He is always the
Yahweh,
the self-existence
God.
Psalm 90:2b says. From
everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
Yesterday today and
forever Jesus is the same.
Perfection – Gods attributes or characters is perfect and does
not change.
Eternity, holiness,
love etc. does not change.
Purpose – God is unchanging in His purpose. Psalm 33:11
says, “The counsel (plan) of the LORD stands forever, the thoughts of his heart
to all generation.”
Promises – God is unchanging in His promise, Once He has
made promised something, He will not be unfaithful to that promise. Num.23:19.
He is a promise
keeping God.
God did not change
when Adam sinned.
In case of Nineveh.
God says, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed, unless they repent.”
Nineveh repent and was spared. It was humans who had changed, not God’s plan.
We live in the world
that is changing all the time.
However, we have our
heavenly Father who does not change. How thankful we ought to be that we have a
God with whom is no variableness at all, neither the slightest shadow of
turning, God is always the same, at all seasons of the year, and throughout all
ages. There is not the slightest change in His character, in His mode of being,
or in His plans. What He was millions of ages before the world was made, He is
now, and what He is now, He will be countless millions of ages from now.
Conclusion:
Church
we have meditate together two very important point under the topic.
“The unchanging goodness
of Heavenly Father.”
1.Heavenly Father is the giver of
all good and perfect gift.
Father greatest gift is His only son Jesus.
Fruit of Spirit in our life.
God’s wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
His unconditional blessing in our life.
2.Heavenly Father Goodness never
change.
May God continue to pour out His
amazing goodness in your life.
May God’s name be exalted and
glorify through you.
I want to conclude with this
beautiful verse.
Psalm 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
May God goodness and mercy follow
you all the days of your life.
As some of you know I was made redundant and have been unemployed since July, I am writing this post to encourage you and especially myself while we are in this journey of transition together.
I am thankful to God for His presence each day. His grace and fellowship every hour. There are times I would feel lost but the Holy Spirit through His word would remind me that He is my Provider and Sustainer and it’s not a man or a company- these are means and not an end.
Truly thankful for such a wonderful God who understands the depths of my thoughts, fears and worries and addresses them gently as a Father and secures my weak heart.
He truly withheld no good thing from me. The reality is there are expenses each month. I am thankful for friends who have been there for me in this phase of my life and extended help and support in every way God enabled them to.
Some ordered groceries, some helped financially without me reaching out to them, some sent job references, some checked on my emotional health, some prayed and some even cried with me. It’s overwhelming how God moves people with compassion to understand the needs.
So if you’re reading this I want to encourage you. As my friend Kimaya encouraged me. She was watching a movie- Noahand God told one of Noah’s son in the movie- You have EVERYTHING you need in this time.
Yes and this is true. I am thankful first and foremost because the presence and love of a Holy God is my portion. 36 years of my life He has sustained me and never failed once. Even in hardships and pain He never left.
Secondly in this time, I experience His love and goodness through the friends and family.
I want to remind you and encourage you with the truth that you have everything you need- God and His people around you.
He is using the stillness, the hardship, the brokenness, every single detail of your life to behold His goodness and to mould our hearts to the likeness of Christ to respond with compassion to suffering.
So I pray with Thanksgiving for all of us – Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your steady love and faithfulness through every trial and temptation.
Thank you that You never leave us nor forsake us. Thank you for sustaining us and carrying us through every hardship. Thank you for your presence Holy Spirit. You’re sufficient at all times.
Thank you for your people who comfort when in distress. I know God You’re a provider and withhold no good thing You gave Jesus Christ the best gift ever, so I know You will take care of every need beyond what we can ask or think for Your Glory!
It’s a pleasure to be sharing from God’s Word with you this morning. As a church we have been going through a series titled “Faith in Action from the book of James”.
God’s intention in saving us is not for us to have a passive or a lazy faith but a vibrant and an active one. Genuine faith will demonstrate itself in action even in the midst of very difficult and unconducive circumstances!
Continuing our theme on trials and difficulties, we arrive at our text for today from James 1:12-15. Would you join me in prayer before we jump into the text?
“She is fearless!” That’s how Ashlyn’s parents and teachers describe her. In the school cafeteria, the teachers intentionally put ice on the 5-year old’s chilli because if it’s hot she ends up gulping it down anyway. On the playground, a teacher watches her from a close distance every day because if she takes a hard fall, she won’t cry.
The reason she doesn’t cry is not so much because she’s super strong but because she suffers from a condition called “congenital insensitivity” which is a disorder which makes it unable for her to feel pain.
When Ashlyn’s mom was interviewed, this is what her mom said “Some people would say that’s a good thing. But no, it’s not. Pain’s there for a reason. It lets your body know something’s wrong and it needs to be fixed. I’d give anything for her to feel pain.”
The feeling of pain and sensitivity is important for our survival. Similarly what if the pain that we experience in our lives were not ultimately meant for our suffering & destruction but rather to reveal the symptom of what’s wrong and needs to be fixed in our hearts? What if there was a rescuing purpose to the pain & trials in our lives? I believe our passage today’s gives us 2 rescuing purposes:
1.
Trials expose the sin in our hearts
V12 continues on the theme of being steadfast in trials and the glorious reward we receive for holding on to the faith. I’ll come to this verse in just a few minutes, but I find it interesting that right after this verse on the blessedness and the glorious reward for holding on in the midst of trials, he gets into a conversation about sin.
I don’t think it’s a random placement but speaking to people that were going through immensely difficult circumstances, they needed to know that these trials were going to reveal and expose what’s in their hearts – which could make them either run away from God or run towards God when they are confronted with their sin.
It was important for them to know but it’s also important for us to know – as we all are in the midst of a pandemic and our experiencing the emotional, mental, physical, financial, social impact of these trials. What James does in v13-15, he actually providing us with a diagnostic tool to search our hearts during trials:
We are quick to forget God’s character
Let
no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be
tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. (v13)
When we
look at the heart of v13, we realize that it’s a misplaced understanding of
God’s character and His response towards us during times of trials. The
misplaced understanding is that “God is not inherently good and He doesn’t
want what is best for me”.
I think the reason James mentions this is because when we go through trials and painful experiences of various kinds, the first thing that we do in sin is we forget who God is. It doesn’t matter how much of Bible we may have studied in the past, or the number of bible studies we’ve led, when we are hit with sudden, prolonged and painful experiences – we forget God’s goodness, we forget that He is a father who loves us eternally & we forget that He is always with us.
Brother Jeff would always tells us “we are professional forgettors” – “we forget God daily and we are quite good at doing that”…which is why we need the precious reminders in the Bible like v13 which tells us that our God is Holy God who is untemptable.
And also He is Holy God who will never and can never tempt us. Doing this would go against His character & it is impossible for God to change His character. He is always Holy, Good and unchanging every time and in everything He does.
We are quick to defend ourselves
Let
no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be
tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. (v13)
When we see v13, sometimes we think who is this foolish person to think or say that God is tempting us. The answer is we are those foolish people. We all know that when we sin, the hardest thing to do is confess our sin. The easiest and most natural thing to do is defend ourselves and blame others. We’ll blame others for making us respond in sin.
We’ll blame our circumstances for creating avenues for us to sin. We’ll also blame God for not removing the sin from our hearts quickly enough. In all these ways what we try to do is say “I’m not as bad as you’re making me out to be. I’m better than that”. Defending ourselves and blaming others is how we try to prove this.
This week was a reminder of my own defensive and critical heart as I had a difficult conversation with a colleague. The whole thing disturbed me for a while, but as I reflected on this I realized that the main reason why I was disturbed is that I wanted to defend the sin in my heart rather than confess it to God.
And I think all of us can relate to this nature, that especially when we are dealing with troubles in our relationships or painful circumstances in life, the easiest thing for us to do to is get defensive and start blaming others.
We fail to acknowledge the real problem
14
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
(v14)
The real problem is not other the people, is not even the circumstance but the real problem is in your heart and mine – it is a SIN issue. The picture that is painted is almost like a fisherman who has laid a bait on the fish hook and thrown it into the water.
The bait has something in it to draw the fish and before they realize it, they are caught and pulled out. It’s the same analogy that is being used for our hearts.
The reason we fall into temptation is not because of what the other person told to provoke us, it’s not because we were under immense pressure we are facing in life, it’s not because of what appeared on our screens, it’s not because of the spur of the moment – we fall into temptation because we desire SIN our hearts.
Our hearts are more depraved than we would like to believe. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jer 17:9)God is in the process of renewing our heart through Jesus but we have to reckon with the reality of the sin nature that we have.
We are apathetic toward the consequences of sin
15
Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully
grown brings forth death. (v15)
One of the main things that happens to our heart because of sin is that it numbs us and makes us insensitive to the consequences of our sin. The world gives this really glamorous picture of sin but in reality it is a miserable dungeon trap. It’s so enslaving which is why we keep going back again and again to the things and people who we know aren’t really helping us but harming us.
Not just is SIN enslaving but its end is in DEATH – spiritual and physical separation from God forever! In Luke 16:24 we see a description of separation from God eternally where the rich man in hell calls out to Abraham and say ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.
There is unbearable anguish in unquenchable fire – and this carries on for all of eternity. I say all this to not frighten anybody but to also lay a reminder from the Bible on how terrible is the anguish and yet we become apathetic toward the consequences of sin. Trials are a tool that God uses highlight what’s broken inside of us.
As a result of this global pandemic, many of the developed countries that used to boast of a robust healthcare system have been shown to be weak and helpless. A lot of the real issues in their healthcare systems have been exposed.
It’s not that the chinks in the armor were not there prior to the virus but rather the pandemic has revealed the healthcare systems for what they were. Similarly trials are not creating brand new sins each time we go through it but rather trials expose these sins that always were with us (Our inclination to forget God, Defending ourselves, not acknowledging the real problem of sin, being apathetic to the consequences of sin).
But if all
that trials did is just make us more aware of our sin, then that leaves us
without any hope. There’s something more to God’s purpose in trials. God’s
rescuing purpose in trials is not just in exposing our sin but also using
2.
Trials to point us to our need for a Savior
Even as
trials are exposing our sins, it’s also creating this longing in our heart to
look to a Savior for help. We can either chose to be a false, useless savior
for ourselves (self-medicate ourselves) or we could go to Jesus who
is the true, rescuing Savior (real healer).
Blessed
is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he
will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
(v12)
In the background of the verses of our sinful condition, as I was reading this verse, a few questions popped into my head. Can I remain steadfast by my own strength? How can I stand the test? How can I receive the crown of life?
How is it that I who deserve to be spiritually and physically separated from God eternally are now being offered the “crown of life”? How is this even possible? Because of our predicament, God will have to do something for us because we can’t do anything to help ourselves.
It points us to God’s promise
It’s interesting that James uses the phrase “which God has promised” at the end of the versewhich means that we can’t work for the crown of life or we can’t earn it like a salary. It’s a true fact for us as believers today as well. The only qualification which allows us to receive the crown of life is God’s promise that he makes toward us.
He promises us the crown of life instead of the death we deserve. He promises to eternally love those who once hated Him. He promises to keep those that once had forsaken Him.
But this great and precious promise came at an extremely high cost because someone has to pay for the multitude of sins you and I had committed. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
And that’s where the promise gets serious because to be able to give all of these wonderful gifts to us, it would mean that Jesus Christ – God’s Son would need to take on the punishment meant for us. It’s almost like a death row where we are on our way to get executed for the very sins that we had committed, and then as we are walking toward the gallows someone exchanges his place for us and chooses to get executed instead of us so that we can be set free.
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21)
Jesus Christ not only died on the cross but rose again on the Third Day and this what makes His promise a reality for us. Just like in a marriage, once the couple is married it’s no longer the husband’s bank balance or the wife’s individual bank balance.
Everything that used to belong to them individually now belongs to each other. The riches of Christ’s account has been credited to us – that’s why we have the reward of the crown of life.
It points us to God’s compelling love
which
God has promised to those who love him. (v12)
Can we actually manufacture love for God? From God’s Word & also our experience, we can all admit how easy it is for us to turn to sin & be unloving toward God especially when circumstances go against what we expect and desire.
Because our hearts still desire sin. And therefore, the only way that our hearts can be redeemed is when it is overwhelmed by a greater love.
14
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all,
and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no
longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
(2 Cor 5:14-15)
Jesus Christ’s love is a compelling love. When our hearts are compelled and changed by the love of Jesus Christ, that’s what makes us love God. In my marriage,
I would say that more than the wonderful moments of companionship and joy, it’s been the moments of grace and forgiveness that my wife has shown towards me that has deepened my love for her.
For some us right now, you may be in a season of pain and difficulty. It could be through a troubled relationship with your family member or a friend. It could be a financial difficulty that you’re going through. It could be a loss of job. It could be struggles with a habitual pattern of sin. It could be deep loneliness that you are experiencing as a result of the lockdown. Or it could be a season of dryness in your relationship with God.
As these trials are revealing the sin inside of you more and more clearly, don’t run away from God by turning to sin or remaining in sin. God can use this trial to actually deepen your relationship with God.
God can repair your heart. But the only way that’s going to happen is by remembering the compelling, persuasive, pursuing love of God. He has not stopped loving you and He will not stop changing you with His love until you and I receive the crown of life. Why would you want to still be in sin? Turn back to your Savior. 0
We are doing a series called “Faith in
Action” and the topic we will explore today is on having a heavenly perspective
of poverty and riches, the passage we are looking at is James 1:9-11.
9 Let the lowly
brother boast in his exaltation,
10 and the rich in
his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.
11 For the sun rises
with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty
perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. –
James 1:9-11
First of all, let me once again reminded that
James primary audience are believers, men and women who have put their trust in
God, and because of their faith in Christ they are now living in a foreign land
away from the place of birth, among unknown people groups, and going through
trials.
And among those believers, some of them were
poor and some of them were rich.
In verse 9 the lowly brother is in reference to the poor, and what James is saying is that the poor brother should be proud of his position, why? Because being a poor man his dependence is on the Lord all the time, he trusts the Lord evermore for his daily needs, he has a humble demeanour & contrite spirit, and therefore James is saying it a good standing to have in the eyes of God.
In the Beatitudes, Jesus mentions about the lowly saying “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God”, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” therefore James is saying, boast in your high position as a born-again believer, called to the true riches in Christ.
On the other hand, to the rich Christians, James is saying that they should boast in their humiliation, being humbled, humbled by the trials that reveal human frailty, their sinful and boastful heart, knowing that true riches are found in the grace of God.
You may ask how can being rich be a humiliation.
Imagine a moment when you have all the money and wealth in the world, and even after having all of that you see how wretched and sinful you are.
And because you have money it is now even more easy for you to indulge in your sinful pleasures, access to everything at your fingertips. Instead of feeling happy, you are only feeling more miserable about yourselves, and In addition to that, there is Pride and a boastful spirit towards God and people.
Can rich people feel humiliated in that position?
Yes of course!
Like Solomon who said “I have seen and done all things under the sun and have found them futile, a chasing after the wind.
I have considered all the works my hands have accomplished and toiled for and found them futile.”
And therefore, while addressing the rich he is also reminding them of the fading nature of worldly riches. Its there today and gone tomorrow, like the flower of the grass that withers away under the scorching heat of the sun.
At one time it may look good, beautiful and pleasing to the eyes and in a moment it can be taken away, right in the middle of our pursuit of riches it can be taken away forever.
And as we are looking at both these statements made about the poor and the rich, James is not suggesting that to be poor is better than being rich.
Because there are passages in the bible that also tells us that poverty could be the result of sin & laziness (Prov 10:4), it can be a result of ignoring God’s ways (Proverbs 13:8, 18), Prov 10:15 also suggests that the poor are brought to ruin by their poverty, poverty can affect relationships (19:4,7), and it can even tempt him to steal (30:7-9)
and that there is profit in hard work
(Proverbs 10:4; 14:23). The Bible tells of many wealthy men who followed God:
Abraham, Job, David, Solomon, Zaccheus and others.
Brothers & sisters, whether you consider yourself as a poor person or as a rich person, it is important to have a heavenly perspective regarding your current state, and if we do not cultivate a heavenly perspective we are in trouble, whether we are rich or poor.
Why? Because whether we are poor or rich, trails in life are inevitable, both of them go through trials of different nature.
Therefore, the rest of our time, I want to
talk about the heavenly perspectives we need to cultivate, whether we are rich
or poor.
1. Money, fame or wealth will not save us from the trials of life.
Growing up most of us have been taught and programmed to believe that money, fame, position and wealth is the ultimate goal in life. When we have money we can buy anything we want, go anywhere we like and that will make us happy.
And therefore, we spend our whole lives pursuing these things. Especially when some of us go through trails that are caused due to lack of money and resources, we think only if I had lots of money I wouldn’t have had struggles in life.
But in reality, that isn’t true. If you look around and watch the ones who’ve achieved these things, we will learn that these things never make us happy, rather we end in a trial of different nature, sometimes related to health, sometimes related to our children etc.
You can be found having a deadly sickness which money can’t take away, or your children completely ashtray, away from God which money cant bring back.
A famous Hollywood actor once said, “Everyone should get rich and famous so that they learn that being rich and famous is not the answer”. Yes, there is some truth in that statement.
Recently I saw this documentary of a young Jazz singer girl by the name of Amy Winehouse, at a very early age she started writing songs and quite famous in a short span of time.
From the age of 16 she struggled with depression and hoped that it will get better if she received fame & money, but unfortunately as she was rising up to fame and become popular, she got into unhealthy relationships, struggled with drugs and at age 27 died due to accessive alcohol consumption.
If money and fame was the answer to life’s struggles then Amy would have been alive today, but that is not what is true.
I am reminded of the story of a rich greedy man. One day a genie came to him asked him to wish for anything. The man, because he was greedy for more wealth asked the genie to grant him a power by which whatever he touch would turn into gold, and the genie granted him his wish.
Immediately after that he went to eat food that was on the dining table and as soon as he touched the food it turned into gold, and in the next moment his children came to give him a hug and they too turned into gold. He got the gold but he lost the capability to consume food that would keep him alive, and also lost the affections of his loved ones.
Friends, in God’s Kingdom, worldly wealth holds no value, it’s just a piece of paper in your hand and a number in your bank account. And if you think more money and wealth will save you from all your troubles than you are mistaken.
God is more interested in deep heart transformation than making people prosper for no reason. You can be a poor person and through your dependence and trust in God, by walking in humility before Him, allow Him to change your heart, transform you into the image of His son Jesus and use you for the glory of His name.
And you can be a rich person, who is humble and contrite in heart, trusting him and savouring His grace in your life, …. allowing Him …
Think of all the precious moments you are missing out in your life where God is working in your heart, just because your heart is somewhere in the future, thinking of the day when you will get a promotion, a raise in salary, an inheritance from your parents and a business deal you also wanted.
As a Christian, every day God is doing something beautiful in our heart, it may look quite small to you now but it will bear much fruit if you yield towards it.
And how does he work in our heart?
He works through the transforming power of the Gospel, which brings me to the second perspective we need to cultivate regarding poverty & riches.
2. Besides Jesus there is nothing in this
world that will satisfy us, that includes money, wealth & possession.
To feel happy, what we truly need is heart transformation and not more money. And heart transformation only happens when our hearts are inclined to the Gospel.
The bible says, by nature, we are sinful people, as long as we live in the flesh we are sinful. And a sinful flesh only produces corruption and hatred. We know that was not how God created us to be, he created us to live a full life, walking in obedience to Him and worshipping Him. But believed the lie the serpent told us, when he told us that we can be like God, we liked the idea and therefore rebelled and sinned against God.
The brokeness, agony, restlessness, dissatisfaction, the pain we experience, whether we are poor or rich is the result of our sin against God. Therefore, the poor to desire riches is not the answer, because a lot of rich have sold everything to become monks and sadhus and still miserable under the burden of their sin.
What we truly need is a restored relationship with God, and we can’t earn it on our own capabilities and good works. The help is provided by God himself, only through His grace and mercy which he showed us through His son Jesus can restore it back.
Our response to his love and grace is an act of obedience, where we come to Him in repentance and ask his forgiveness, and trust in his on Jesus with all our heart, mind and soul.
Therefore, even in times of trials, the poor, instead of grumbling, complaining about the lack of money should instead boast in their position as a child of God, and for the work, He is doing in our heart through the trials they are going through.
The rich, instead of allowing the humiliation of our riches to press you down and take you to places you shouldn’t go, do things you shouldn’t do should remind themselves of the vanity of wealth and cherish the true riches they have in Christ alone.
Therefore, the questions we need to ask is
not whether we need to stay poor and become rich, the question we need to ask
is whether we are rich or poor are we enjoying Christ and his redeemer work in
our heart.
I hope you hear the Holy Spirit of God speaking to you
I like to end my sermon with a beautiful confession from Paul in 4:10-13
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that
now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned
for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in
need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I
know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of
facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who
strengthens me.
There is a popular video on YouTube of this athlete competing in a race where he stops running midway. Shortly after the race starts, he clutches the back of his thigh and goes down on one knee. His face is written with agony and he knew what was wrong. He tore his hamstring.
If you’ve watched or played any kind of sports, you know a hamstring injury can be bad because it puts you out on the sidelines.
I see sin like that sometimes. It’s like an injury that puts you out on the sidelines. Especially something as debilitating and guilt inflicting as the sin of pornography use. Considering its addictive nature and how it affects us, pornography use is bad for the Christian.
It affects us not only physically but emotionally and spiritually too, and there are three ways I think it does that:
1) It affects, firstly, our sight towards God’s beauty. The Bible speaks of the beauty of God, his character, his attributes, his infinite nature, his power, his majesty and his love through Jesus Christ. The sun, moon and stars all declare the glory of God. Porn use blinds us and inhibits our capacity to enjoy and appreciate this God.
2) It makes us selfish. Porn use brings with it the inevitable guilt and shame. While we’re dealing with these avalanche of emotions, we tend not to look beyond our current predicament, but inwards. This affects all our relationships including relations with our brothers and sisters in Christ. As an important part of the local body of believers (our church), we are needed.
Porn use makes us selfish where we’re hiding ourselves from others, either to prevent exposing the sin or to try to deal with it privately.
3) A third insidious effect of porn use is how we look at women. Our sinful tendency to lust after women, in real life and on screen, is amplified with porn use. Porn shows women as objects to be taken advantage of or as nothing beyond flesh and bone that wants to have sex.
Unbeknown to us, our thoughts are trained to objectify women the more we use porn. This is tragic when we do this to our sisters in Christ and fellow image bearers of God.
Using porn is a serious sin and a problem. However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Christian. There is hope.
Hope for the Christian
Yes, as born again followers of Jesus, we have hope. The strength to overcome this sin was made available when Jesus died on the cross, for it says in 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.”
When Jesus died and rose again, and after we put our faith in him, we died to our former ways and are now alive with Christ to live a life of righteousness and purity.
With this new identity as children of God, we can now pursue him. And we ought to pursue him with all our might. God has chosen a few disciplines to follow in order for us to “live to righteousness”, and these disciplines are both private and public.
1) The private disciplines to pursue God is through reading and meditating on the Bible and through prayer. We must be hearing this for the umpteenth time but let me share something that I’ve been told by someone who’s been discipling me: Bible and prayer is meant to help us know and love Jesus.
Bible study and prayer is done to grow in love and appreciation for Christ. It’s through this that God reveals himself, shapes us to be like him, confronts our sin and reassures our heart. Make this a habit. Even if the Bible and prayer hasn’t been making sense, don’t skip it, it’s too precious.
2) The public disciplines would be to participate actively in the life of the church. This means being there for Sunday morning services, being part of small groups, being discipled and discipling someone and reaching out to those who don’t know Christ.
How does following all this help? We get to hear God’s Word being preached, sing songs to him, be involved in the lives of fellow church members, build life-giving friendship that provide a place for accountability, gives us the chance to help another grow in Christ and help to reach a world that needs Jesus. The need for all these public disciplines cannot be reiterated enough.
These private and public disciplines don’t save us, of course, but it is God’s appointed means for us to pursue him and kill sin.
The Fight Goes On
I’ve been hamstrung by porn far too many times than I can count, and I’ve been affected in the same ways that I wrote about. Yet the God who sanctifies is faithful and has shown me grace through the same disciplines I mentioned.
If we are in Christ, we are never out of the boundaries of God’s grace and forgiveness.
Let us make it our aim – as we fight on to overcome and kill this sin – to worship and behold God like Paul did: “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)