Archive for March, 2024
How Is Your Love Life? Part One
Galatians 5: 19 – 26
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
Love such as Christ spoke of is revealed to be a product of a Holy Spirit-filled life. In Galatians 5:22 we are given a list of the “fruit” of the Spirit. Upon first looking at the passage it appears there is an improper verb tense used. The word “fruit” is singular, but the result is plural. This is easily understood when we understand the meaning of what the Greek word translated “fruit” means to our modern mind. It was the word “karpos” which can be translated as “harvest.” The time of harvest is still called the fruiting season in some areas. In this light the writer was saying “The things the Holy Spirit harvests in a believer’s life are…” The first one is love. The harvest of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is love.
The world has a different meaning when speaking of love. An understanding of the Greek words for love helps the comprehension of what Jesus meant. There are various words and word meanings for love.
Agape is the Greek word in our text translated “love.”
Eros speaks of love means a physical attraction between persons on a sexual level. Their word for that emotion was not related to what was meant by agape. We get our word “erotic” from their word eros.
Philos, was the Greek word for a kind of love which we describe by friendship or brotherly love. It is warm affection apart from any sexual attraction at all.
Agape is the Greek word most often translated “love” in the Bible. The word emerged in the Bible era meaning “”the ultimate willful act of self-sacrificing for the welfare of someone else.” The agape kind of love is Calvary’s love. The proto-type of agape is the love Christ showed us.
Only when we love Him with a love that is self-sacrificing for His welfare can we get eros and philos working right.
Tragedy of tragedy is that in our society an attempt is made to define all love by the definition of eros, that is, sensual, fleshly love. The world has difficulty understanding how brotherly love can exist without sexual involvement. Or, that self-sacrificing love can be expressed without expecting some sexual favor in return.
Try substituting some of the meanings of EROS in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world…that He felt romantic about it…that He got a tingling sensation down His spine…that He had a friendly spirit of tolerance and brotherhood toward it no matter what it believed…” NOT!
God loved so much that “He gave His only begotten Son.” Love is an act of willful, self-sacrificing for the good of another. God showed that kind of love.
Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
When we have agape, that is, self-giving love for Jesus that we truly love Him. Evaluate your regard for Jesus. Is it self-giving?
Faithfulness Unto Death – Part Three
Resolve to be faithful in a depraved society remembering, “Faithful is He Who has called you” (I Thess. 5: 24).
If you are faithful Jesus will ultimately reward your faithfulness with “the crown of life.” Out of the ashes of your disaster can rise a tribute to His abiding faithfulness.
At a critical moment during World War II our allied forces broke the German secret code. This major breakthrough enabled our forces to decode and read all the enemy’s secretly coded messages regarding troop deployment, defense placement, and other information vital to our planned invasion of Europe. This gave us tremendous advantages.
One message received chilled British intelligence and was relayed to Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. It told of plans to bomb the beautiful British city of Coventry. This lovely old city was one of England’s crown jewels.
The Prime Minister knew that with the insight gained they could evacuate the city and prepare air defenses to give it greater protection. He also knew that if he did the Germans would know their secret code had been broken. In order not to reveal knowledge of the secret code in hopes to interpret further messages and have greater advantages in preparing for the invasion, the Prime Minister left Coventry with no warning and unprotected.
On the night of November 24, 1940, nearly 500 German bombers bombed the historical English city of Coventry. Over 600 tons of explosives and thousands of incendiaries were dropped. Over 70,000 homes were ruined and 400 people killed. The centerpiece of the city, their 14th Century cathedral was destroyed.
Once my family and I stood amid those ruins. Since that awful night the people have built a modern cathedral. The ruins of the old gothic structure still stand. The old and new walls are architecturally connected. Within the old wall’s hull stand two crosses on soot blackened stone where the altar once stood. One is made from charred beams taken from the ruins. A much smaller one is made from heat twisted spikes used by medieval craftsmen in constructing the original roof. These two spikes were fused in the shape of a cross on the eventful night of the bombing.
There is a message that has been carved in those old walls since the war. It reads: “Father, forgive.”
In front of the altar is another sign with a quotation from Isaiah 6: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.”
The new cathedral of Coventry has much striking art, none more striking than the larger than life sculpture hanging just outside the main entrance. It depicts Michael the archangel with his lance in hand poised triumphantly over a prostrated, manacled dragon, representing Satan. It depicts the ultimate victory.
This artistic depiction of the inevitable and ultimate victory of Jesus over evil is displayed in a spot where only despair and defeat once loomed. It is a reminder of the truth of I Thess. 5: 24: “Faithful is He Who has called you.”
Live each day as an act of faithful devotion to get the most out of it.
Faithfulness Unto Death – Part Two
In an environment known for a lack of commitment our Lord appeals: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2: 10b)
Before reviewing your personal faithfulness under the microscope of this text we are reminded “Faithful is He who has called you…” (I Thess. 5: 24).
We are following the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Leading His people is nothing new to our God. Caring for His followers is assured by His bountiful provisions. Jesus has been walking with His people for over 2,000 years. He is not out of ideas. He’s not even running low. He is no less powerful today than the day He said, “Let there be light, and there was light.”
Faithfulness is exhorted in our text against the background of four major challenges. Thus, it becomes instantly obvious faithfulness is not simply a response of gratitude for blessings. It is as a consequence of devotion to our unchanging Lord.
The word translated “tribulation” means crushing pressure. A hint of the kind of pressure is indicated by two names being used in the text for the devil. One is “Satan,” a direct translation from the Greek word “Satan” which means “adversary.” The other is translated “devil,” which comes from the Greek “diabolas” literally “slanderer.” These titles indicate we are challenged.
Satan is our adversary, our opponent, who slanders. That is his nature and he inspires people to use his techniques. Have you ever been slandered? It is most painful. How is one to respond? Christ answers, “Be faithful…”
Tribulation can be a tributary to triumph. Psychologist Dr. Marie Benoyn Ray has made a study of the relationship between handicaps and achievement. Assuming a handicap to be one form of tribulation, apply the findings to all tribulation. It was:
“No one succeeds without a handicap.
No one succeeds in spite of a handicap.
Everyone succeeds because of a handicap.”
In other words, solid attainment doesn’t come out of the absence of struggle, but can always be traced to it. The things that are against us are often the best things for us.
Resolve to be faithful in a depraved society remembering, “Faithful is He Who has called you” (I Thess. 5: 24).
Faithfulness Unto Death – Part One
Jesus is appropriately spoken of as being “the faithful witness” (Rev. 1: 5). It was He who said, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2: 10b).
As your mind scans His life from the wilderness temptations to the last agonizing utterance from the cross, He is observed to have been faithful.
An appeal for faithfulness in an era when commitment is uncommon may seem futile. However, in every age there are those who break free from the norm of the time and faithfully forget themselves into immortality. With the banner of uncommitment flying over the castle of many hearts there are still those who are willing to pay the price for being faithful.
Breaking ranks with the common drummer, many courageous young people as well as adults are dauntlessly devoted to Jesus.
In the fields of commerce and industry, where compromise and a lack of commitment abound, there are those who faithfully remain loyal to our Lord.
With virtually all forms of entertainment encouraging noncommitment and depicting unfaithfulness, many are being swept into the vortex of the sewer of self-indulgence. That makes those who dare swim against the tide and remain faithful all the more admirable.
The word faithful, in summary, speaks of persons setting their priorities and sticking by them. It is a bold declaration of “Here I stand. I can do none else.” It is a structuring of one’s social, business, and spiritual calendar to put Jesus first and sticking with it.
That is an exhortation to excellence. Joan of Arc, of whom one wrote: “She chose her path and went down it like a thunderbolt.”
In the Old Testament faithfulness unto death is characterized by Joshua of whom it was said, “He looked neither to the right nor to the left.” He faithfully stayed on course.
A peerless New Testament example “stick-to-a-tive-ness” is our Lord. He neither waffled or wavered on His earth walk to Calvary.
From the world of sports comes insight into the importance of commitment. Vince Lombardi, former coach of the Green Bay Packers, once observed: “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor.”
In light of these truths “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” Hebrews 10:23.
Renewal Awaits Response – Part Two
“Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!” Psalm 107:28-31
Robinson Crusoe, wrecked on a lonely island, made a list of adversities: Lost on a desolate island, cut off from society, no clothes, no defense, no one with whom to talk.
He made a list consisting of two columns called evil and good. He concluded he was cut off BUT he didn’t drown like others, banished BUT not starving; no clothes BUT a warm climate, no defense BUT none needed; no companion BUT all the necessities. When you make your life of misfortunes, parallel it with one noting your good fortune.
Consider emulating Crusoe’s list and making your own two columns.
For most, an object list of “good” would exceed the “evil.”
A Texas business man with a sense of humor and a spirit of thankfulness sent in for a copyright at the Library of Congress. It was for a book he had written intending to give it to customers. The book was entitled, “A Million Thanks.” You guessed it. The book consisted of the one word “thanks” repeated a million times. “No thanks,” said the Library of Congress, a single word isn’t copyrightable. Yet, it deserves to be offered to our Heavenly Father.
Throughout Psalm 107 is found a key word regarding our turning to the Lord and His response. It is the simple word “then.” In most cases as long as we don’t really need God we don’t call on Him. When all resources are depleted “then” we call on Him in our distress and He proves Himself. Thank God for the “then” moments in your life.
The 107 Psalm describes the plight of persons in a storm tossed sea. Verses 25 – 27 notes the reason He is needed to calm the storm: “They are at their wits’ end” (Vs. 27c). Have you been there? If so experientially you know then “He calms the storm” (Vs. 29).
Sometimes all we have to go on are the promises of God. He gives us His promises for a purpose. He gives us His promises to allow us to prove Him.
On your list of good and evil include the factor they noted which was, “Thanks be to God for His UNSPEAKABLE gift.” It just won’t go into words.
“Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” We now know His most wonderful unspeakable work was enabled by the work of Jesus on the cross.