Don’t Make Yourself God’s Enemy

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have chosen to follow Christ above all things, especially above the world. Jesus taught that we cannot be loved by this world because we are not truly a part of it.

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Mt 6:24 CEB)

The Bible reminds us that we can’t serve two different masters. So we must make a clear and firm choice about our allegiance.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, the world therefore hates you. (Joh 15:19 MEV)

The world hates Christians because Jesus chose us out of the world, and we chose Jesus. We have put Jesus first above all other relationships, alliances, and commitments.

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (Jam 4:4 NKJV)

Friendship with the world equals hostility toward God and the Word of God. Many in the world malign and ridicule believers, and all those who value the Bible.

Stop loving the world and the things that are in the world. If anyone persists in loving the world, the Father’s love is not in him. ¹⁶For everything that is in the world—the desire for fleshly gratification, the desire for possessions, and worldly arrogance—is not from the Father but is from the world. (1 Joh 2:15-16 ISV)

Everything—EVERYTHING—that is in the world [ambition, avariciousness, passions, arrogance] is connected with this world’s way of doing things; and does not connect to a love of God the Father.

As we continue to choose to follow Jesus and to obey God’s Word, we would do well to seek God’s face and ask Him for continuing grace to live a holy life. We know that God hears and answers our prayers, so we may pray with confidence and assurance. God bless you.

BRIGHTEN SOMEONE’S DAY

Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. (Pro 12:25 NIV)

A cheerful heart is good medicine . . . (Pro 17:22a NIV)

We all experience days when we feel a little down or maybe worried or stressed out. On days like those, we all appreciate a cheerful word or a phone call from a friend. We all need encouragement, and we need other believers to come alongside of us occasionally to strengthen us.

We need a fellow believer to encourage our faith, to remind us of God’s goodness and glorious attributes, and to let us know that we are loved by God. Only another person who follows Jesus, and has experienced life’s challenges and victories is able to help us in this way. I encourage us all to cultivate friends who are fellow believers and who have been serving the Lord longer than we, ourselves, have.

Jesus taught us to love one another, and to be kind to one another. He gave us His own example of how to live like this.

Offering hope, support, and cheer to one another is a wonderful and practical way to spread God’s love in this stress-laden world. It’s important to encourage yourself first, in the Word of God. Another way to encourage yourself in the Lord is to remember all of the answered prayers you have experienced, and to remember all of the miracles that God has performed in the past in answer to your prayers. Rejoice! Thank and praise the Lord for these past testimonies and victories. Once you have done these things, you will have the strength to minister to others.

But take heart! I have overcome the world. (Joh 16:33 NIV)

The Good News is still true. The Lord is always reliable, and we can depend upon His Word and His matchless love. He has overcome!

So take a little time every day to share joy and cheer with everyone around you—with your family, friends, and co-workers. Hallelujah!

Extreme Mercy & Forgiveness

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Ac 7:59-60)

Focus on the extreme mercy and forgiveness that Stephen displayed! Here are people in the process of killing him, and he forgives them and asks the Lord to forgive them. Then he dies. What mercy! What forgiveness! Stephen went to heaven as a martyr for the gospel.

According to Daniel 9:9, mercy and forgiveness belong to God. The Bible says (see below) that mercy and unlimited forgiveness belong to God.

O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, because with the Lord there is mercy and with Him there is unlimited forgiveness. (Ps 130:7 GW)

In the church of Jerusalem, Stephen was chosen along with six other men to serve as deacons. As deacons, they would take charge of the gifts of the people, and give assistance to those who were in need, including widows. The criteria for choosing these men was that they had to have the Spirit of God and to have wisdom.

Stephen not only cared for the poor, but he began to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone—Jews and Gentiles both. This conduct enraged some of Jews, who plotted against him.

Clearly, as Stephen shared the Good News, the Holy Spirit used Stephen as an instrument for the Kingdom of God. History records that Stephen, as he ministered to the people, performed signs, wonders, and miracles among them. Glory to God!

Stephen clearly loved and obeyed Jesus Christ, his Savior and example in all things. Stephen emulated the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, work, and even in death.

This is a good moment to reflect upon our own lives; and to determine whether we are allowing mercy and forgiveness to operate in our lives, our responses, and our actions.

Chosen and Precious

Do you know that not only are you chosen by God, but that you are also precious to Him? This passage of Scripture has much to teach us, but for today, I want to concentrate on how dearly loved and cherished each one of us is by God.

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 2:3-5, emphasis added)

A portion of the New International Version of this passage reads, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him . . .” (1 Pet 2:4, emphasis added)

The word precious means costly; priceless; exquisite; favorite; honored; and treasured. These are the feelings that we humans feel for our very own children. Yet God is telling us that He feels this way about each and every one of us! Why else would He send His one and only Son to become our Savior and Redeemer?

Here are several verses of the Bible that echo the idea that God deeply loves each one of us:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (Joh 3:16, underscoring added)

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Joh 4:11, underscoring added)

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. (Joh 15:9, underscoring added)

Each and every one of us may have been rejected by people at one time or another in our lives. Some of us have lived with a sense of rejection hanging over us due to past life experiences which were evil. But in Christ, we need to remember that we were personally selected by Him to receive His gift of salvation so that He might help us to come to know His perfect, unending and unconditional LOVE. He never forgets about us; He has written us upon the palms of His hands. Each one of us is treasured and honored by our loving God.

In Isaiah 49:15d-16a the Lord says: Yet I will not forget you. ¹⁶See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands. . .

Love was God’s reason for salvation and for all of the attendant blessings and scriptural promises that are bestowed upon us. I believe that the apostle Paul echoes the heart of God when he says:

You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men . . . (2 Cor 3:2 NASB)

We, individually, are indelibly written on the tablet of God’s heart never to be erased. The Lord moves heaven and earth to bless us; to save, deliver, heal, and protect us; and to grow us in wisdom and spiritual maturity. Entrust yourself to the incomparable love of God from this moment forward, O beloved child of the King of Kings!

How Can I Go to Heaven? Part 2

We are continuing with our topic from the last article.

Here are various Bible passages that tell us what we need to do in order to go to heaven when our physical body dies.

Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. (Mt 10:32) Jesus is speaking in this verse.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (Joh 3:16)
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (Joh 6:40)
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (Joh 10:28) Jesus is speaking here.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lor (Rom 6:23)
. . . that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Cor 5:19)
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor 5:21)
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 Joh 4:9-10)

In order to enter into heaven, all of these Scriptures point us to the person of Jesus Christ. Once we believe the truth of these verses and accept Jesus as our own, personal Savior and Redeemer, we are born again or “born anew.” In fact, we become a new creation in Christ Jesus. (2 Cor 5:17; Eph 2:10; Rom 6:3-4)

Once we’ve accepted Christ as our Savior, we’re qualified to enter into heaven. We also become eligible to receiving the benefit of every promise of blessing that is shown in the Bible! Knowing that this is true prepares each one of us to lead lives of significance in the here and now. Choose living for Jesus right now, and an eternity in Heaven for yourself today!

We Need One Another

Human beings need other human beings! Everyone wants to be loved, welcomed, and valued. There are times in life when sorrow or disappointments overtake us when we simply need human contact. We may need a touch on the hand or a smile or hug. We might need someone to encourage our faith. Or we may simply need help moving a heavy dresser or bookcase. The Scriptures give us insight into this topic.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. ¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. ¹¹Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? ¹²Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Eccl 4:9-12)

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Pro 17:17)

Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. ⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend . . . (Pro 27:5-6)

Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel. ¹⁰ Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. (Pro 27:9-10)

As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. (Pro 27:17)

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (Jhn 15:13)

. . . that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. (Rom 1:12)

People who have a lot of friends have proven themselves to be friendly. (Pro 18:24)

When the enemy wants to harm us, one of the tricks that he will use is to separate us from dearly loved friends or relatives. (Pro 16:28; 17:9) That is one of the enemy’s favorite past times—destruction.

Jesus is truly our best friend and Savior. He loves us and pours out His blessings upon us as a result of His love. One of the most beautiful gifts that He gives to people is the gift of friends! Our faith is not intended to be lived out in the wilderness by ourselves. We are intended to live within a community of faith, and an extended community of family and friends.

Friends give us wise counsel, warmth, help of all kinds, laughter, and encouragement. Just knowing that we’ll be seeing a friend in a few days, can brighten our outlook and fill a person with joyful anticipation. Often, when the Lord wants us to know how very much He loves us, He will send a caring friend (or several) to wrap their arms around us and tell us how very much they love us. They may even send us an email, text, or greeting card to enumerate all of the things that they like about our friendship.

Value your friends and remember to show your appreciation to them. Don’t try to be a solo act; God intends us to have friends!

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