Doing the Impossible

³⁵ Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me: what have You done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:35-36 [NASB])

¹⁵ And I (Saul) said, “Who are you, Lord?” And the Lord, said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; ¹⁷ rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸ to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.” (Acts 26:15-18 [NASB])

As Christians, we know without doubt where we will go when we no longer live on this earth. We don’t fear eternity. Yet, many of us fear what will happen to us on earth; what humankind will do to us if we say or do what Jesus' Spirit tells us to say or do. We fear of being ostracized. We fear of being rejected by people we think we want to impress or to have as friends. We fear physical persecution.

In the earthly realm, these fears seem normal and appropriate. Yet, if we truly are followers of Christ and, as such, are the children of God, these fears should not affect how we live. Remember, fear is not of God. Instead, we must submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit and let Him clothe us with the new nature that comes from Jesus. By this, we will become more like Christ every day. We are to submit ourselves, so the fears of the world do not enter our thinking. If we fear, we are letting the old nature block our acceptance and keep us from living in the new nature.

In John 18:36, Jesus implied because His servants, His followers, were not fighting to get Him released from custody, Pilate could know they truly were His followers, Christians. They sought to do the Father's will. Jesus' followers understood, because He told them His arrest and crucifixion would happen and was part of God's plan for the salvation of humanity. Jesus told His followers they would face persecution, too, and stand strong by His Spirit’s empowering of them. Because He stood strong, they could know they could stand strong in the face of persecution.

When Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus, Jesus told Saul He would rescue him from the Jewish people and the Gentiles (Acts 26:17). He made sure Saul knew being a follower of Jesus would mean being, doing, and saying things contrary to what the world wants to hear, see, and be. So, knowing Jesus will rescue him and will send His Spirit to empower and embolden him to endure ostracism and physical persecution, encouraged and gave His later followers the ability to stand strong by the new nature He put within them when they received salvation.

Fear should not affect our following Jesus. We can do or say what the Spirit leads us to do or say in this world. Jesus went before us as the Son of God who lived as a man and became the model for us of how we should live, act, speak, and think. He told us persecution would happen. Jesus told us He would rescue us, too. He might not rescue us immediately, but in the eternal time frame, He has already rescued us and we can go forward with hope and assurance in faith because of Jesus.

Today, some of us are facing battles and persecution. It would be so much easier to give in and give up the fight rather than stand strong against those things. Remember, Jesus has overcome Satan, sin, death, and the world. There is nothing to fear. Live with the new nature Jesus gave you, not the old, mortal, fearful nature. Watch what God is doing and is about to do because of your faithfulness to Him.

God is able and is faithful to do the impossible using the finite for His eternal good.

While I (Jesus) was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which you have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 17:22 [NASB])

Lord, I want to live and be Your disciple, Your child, here on earth the way You lead me, but at times I allow my old nature and fear to lead me. I say, “I am just an introvert” or “I have small children to protect.” I allow my old nature, my human reasoning to lead me instead of You. I’m sorry, Lord. You are God and can do anything. You are faithful and love me and will do what is best. I can trust in You. Please forgive me to live based on my reasoning and my comfort zone. Help me step out and live in faith where You lead me so other people may hear about, come to know You, and be saved. I love You, Lord. Amen.

Our Calling: To Be One

So many of us Christians baptized long ago, think we are always right; we think we do not sin. When Jesus prayed in John 17 for His disciples to be one with the Father as He and the Father are one, He was not just speaking of our hearts. Yes, we may pray to God at meals and before bed and we may read the Bible, but we may not be at a point yet where we are near God. 

Consider Jesus’ relationship with the Father. You say, well, that is obvious, they have to be close because they are both of the triune Godhead. Well, yes. Jesus was not speaking about that, though. Jesus was speaking of being one in mind, heart, and Spirit. Being one with God should not be a new idea to the Jews; their parents taught them the Shema from their birth. Though their parents taught them the Shema, that does not mean they lived by it. This is why Jesus is praying for His disciples; He wants every one of His disciples, then and now, to be as familiar with the Father as He is. 

For many, to become a Christian appears unreasonable. It does not make sense to follow something/someone you cannot see and because of this, many do not become believers. To most Christians, it might make sense to become a believer; God spoke to their hearts. They could not turn away from God’s call on their lives. The question remains, though, how is Jesus asking us to be in as close a relationship to the Father as He is? What does He mean? Well, consider the Shema. It says we are to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength. Christ added we are to love God with all our soul, too, when He stated it as the Greatest Commandment. When you became a Christian, you followed Him with your heart. You love Him with your heart. Growing to be more like the Lord, though, requires you to love Him with your mind, soul, and strength, too. Loving God with your soul/spirit comes once you love God will all of your heart, mind, and strength. These rely on each other.

Your next step after giving Him your heart is to love him with your mind. We must not just “conquer” our minds to live a civil life, but we must do it to live a moral Christian life. Jesus said if the outside of the cup is clean, it does not mean the inside is clean. It is the inside that is important Jesus said in Mark 7:23 (NASB), “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed…All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’.” If you are not clean on the inside, which comes when God does not control your mind, then your sinful human thoughts taint whatever you do. Consider Consider this; theft comes from the internal feeling of greed or lust. Adultery comes from the feeling of lust which when decided and acted upon by the head and body results in adultery. Slander comes from jealousy or hatred, a decision by the head, which informs the body to act. God must control your head as well as your heart for you to be closer to Him the way He and Jesus are close.

Additionally, beyond the head and heart, to be near God, to be one with God as Jesus is, we need to give control of our actions to God. As we saw above, most times actions occur because of a decision we make, so the biggest part of living like Jesus is letting God control our hearts and minds. You must give God control of your body and actions; that is your offering to be one with Him. Consider, before you became a believer, the Holy Spirit did not live in you to guide you. Your body was susceptible to the leading of Satan in the world. You learned actions and reactions that are not those God condones. God needs to be one with you in this part of your life so He can re-teach you how to respond to different situations, for example, loss of home, betrayal, uncertainty. God’s ways to handle these adversities is different from Satan’s ways. You also need to be taught how to handle blessings in a way that is appropriate for a follower of Christ, for example, to celebrate a job promotion you would not go on a weekend drinking spree and you would not “lord it” over other people. You must give over your body to God so you can be one with the Father as Christ is one with Him.

Once we are growing more in tune with God through our hearts, minds, and bodies, then we will notice our spirit is becoming more in tune with His Holy Spirit. We find we are thinking and doing the things He wants us think and do because we give the Holy Spirit more rein in our lives. To be able to grow in these three areas, our spirits must become more in tune with the Holy Spirit.

As we come to love God more with our hearts, minds, strength, and soul, we will notice not only are we becoming more like Him, but we can discern what He wants us do and why. We can become more adept at discerning the mind of Christ. Once we are able to do this, we can see why God allows bad things to happen or why God is having us go through a desert experience right now. Not only will we be able to understand these things more, but we will be able to accept them knowing God has not left us or forsaken us. God is not far, but is growing us. Jesus explained to us in John 17:21 why these things occur, so we can become one with God just as He is one with the Father. God is answering Jesus’ prayer for His disciples. Are we at the point where we want to have Jesus’ prayer answered in our lives? This is a big step. It means giving up control to not only your heart, which you initially gave to God when you made a profession of faith, but to every part of yourself. Are you ready to do that? When you get to the point where you wonder if “this is all there is to it” then you are ready to grow on and have God answer Jesus’ prayer in your life. Jesus is still calling you. He does not stop when you become a believer. The question remains, are you going to follow His calling?

Certain In Christ

1 John 3: 2, 16-24 (NASB) -

      2: “Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not yet appeared what we will be. We know that when he appears, we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.”  

John 17:13-21 (NASB) -

      13: "But I now come to you; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.” Joy as the bridegroom when he receives his bride.

     14: I” have given them your word” (myself).

     16: “They are not of the world as I am not of the world.”

     17: “Purify and consecrate them, set them apart, in your truth; your Word, Jesus Christ, is truth.” 

         Dear ones, right now you can know we are children of God (disciples of God) because we have received Him; we have heard Him and follow Him doing acts of righteousness (1 John 3:10). God’s spirit within us testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. (Romans 8:16). It has not yet appeared what we will be, but we wait eagerly (Rom 8:23) and with expectation and anticipation. We know when Christ appears we will be like Him, we will resemble Him. (We will be conformed to His image. Rom. 8:29) We know we will be like Him because God and Jesus promised it. Our future is certain. We do not have to wonder what we will “be,” but must be at the task of not only telling others, but in deed and truth, act upon it (1 John3:18 NASB). This is how we can be assured of our belief, we resemble Jesus, we will do acts of righteousness not speak only of our belief.  

         God's love abides/lives in us if we are truly believers. We cannot let another live in need if we own the resources or are able to fill their need. We must surrender our life for another as Jesus laid aside His life for us. Putting aside our life is not just telling them about Jesus, but doing something to help meet their need. Many people come to Jesus because someone has taken the time to listen to them and help fill their need be it physical, emotional, or spiritual. Christ came to be the Answer to all our needs. As children of God, those who heard the Word and accepted Him into our lives, we are set aside and purified for His service. We know we are the children of God by our righteous acts, the fruits of the Spirit which show in us. Without Jesus' Spirit speaking to our spirit, we would not be able to be used by God and to do righteous deeds. We would not be able to show God's love for everyone. John says,  

We know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in  whatever our heart condemns us, for God is greater than our hearts and knows all  things. Dear ones, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep what his commandments and do things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He commanded us (1 John 3: 19-23 NASB). 

         The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain about God, but about our future. John tells us we do not need to be uncertain of our future. Who we are and what we will be in this life we do not know, but we know who we will resemble. We will resemble Christ when He returns. If we are not just hearers of the Word, but doers, we resemble Christ.  When we act upon God's consecration/dedication of our lives now on this earth, we know we are followers of Christ. Jesus prayed for His disciples; He prayed for us before He left and arose to heaven. He prayed our joy would be complete; the joy He has will be in our lives. His joy is full as the bridegroom who receives His bride. Our joy is tied to His and we can be filled with His joy when we accept Him as our Lord and when we live the life He commands us, to love one another not just in word, but in deed and truth. It really is up to us. Jesus already did everything we need to live an abundant life, with joy and certainty as to our future. When we confess Jesus as our lord and Savior, our joy is full and our future is secure. We will be like Jesus Christ; we will resemble Him.  

         Oh, what great news we can tell others. Based on this good news, our love overflows into deeds of love and righteousness. These are deeds of truth, sharing God's love to all people so their physical needs are met and the future is certain and held in Christ. What greater love can we live than spending our lives sharing Christ's love, His deeds, word, and truth? What is holding you back from acting upon God's love in accepting the Savior and being to the world around you the heart, hands, and mouth of Christ? Act upon Christ's love, accept Him, tell others, and show them the love of Christ in you. Show them acts of righteousness that come through God's love in your heart.  We will resemble Christ and be like Him if we accept His gift of grace and act upon them with acts of righteousness. 

1 John 3:24 “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (NASB)