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Let me introduce you to one of the most interesting passages of Scripture I have ever read (you can find it in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6):
"Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.'Why do I find this passage so interesting? This is the briefest presentation of the gospel and of saving faith that I've come across.
Then they asked him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?'
Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'" ( John 6:26-29 )
Stop for a moment and consider this: "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
I hope I can impress upon you the awesomeness of this statement. This is what God requires of us, to trust and believe in Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. You may think that this is too simple, but you haven't considered this statement closely enough.
Do you still struggle against pet sins that you think you should have had victory over by now? Are you ashamed that you have to keep asking for forgiveness of this same sin over and over and over? How easy is it to believe that Christ is willing to forgive you without condemning or punishing you? "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
Imagine that your child or wife was the victim of a violent crime. Are you angry with God for taking your loved one away way? Do angry friends and relatives ask you "How can you believe in a God who would allow this to happen?" "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
Sometimes believing that God does love us and will ultimately redeem us is far from easy; our sin is ever before us. Clinging to the hope that some day God will reunite us with the departed faithful who have gone before us because Jesus paid the price is a challenge when we attend funerals.
Have you surrendered all hope of being "good enough" to earn God's acceptance? Do you agree with God that you've got a problem with sin? If you answer "yes", then He is waiting with open arms to bring you into His family and forgive you for everything you have done and everything you will do. Believe and you shall be saved.
"Don't pray for patience!
You know, the Bible says that the way you develop patience is
by going through trials!"
If you've been a Christian for any length of time, there is little doubt that you've heard the advice listed above. Dear brothers and sisters, hear this:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its works so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." James 1:2-6 (emphasis is mine)
Dear friend, look closely at the first verse. The phrase "whenever you face trials" implies that these trials will come, there is no avoiding them. It is not mentioned in conjunction with prayers for patience or anything else. It is offered as a general comfort to those of us who live in this trying age; our comfort comes from knowing that by holding fast to our faith, despite the trials that will come, we will be made "mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Perhaps you are like me. You don't take a lot of comfort from the fact that as you're being raked across the coals of your trial (whether the trial stems from your own sin, the efforts of satan or the working of God) that you are developing character. The fact is that your character is refined by this fire and, if you are wise (or "lacking wisdom", as the case may be), you will seek God for the joy, the strength and the patience that you can have.
Look, friend, if God took the time to put it in His word, He means business. Take your gracious and loving "Abba" (Father) up on His word and PRAY LIKE YOU'VE NEVER PRAYED BEFORE! Get everyone you know to pray for you, if you need to. Get people you've never met to pray for you by sending a prayer request here. Do what it takes to get those promised rewards.
Not convinced? Ok, how about the most reliable source there can be: Jesus Christ. In His final discourse to his disciples (that is, before His crucifixion) as recorded in the Gospel of John, starting in chapter 15, verse 18 and continuing through chapter 16, Jesus tells the disciples that they will suffer all sorts of persecution for Jesus' sake and the sake of the gospel. The final words of this section are amazing:
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV -- used with permission)
Apparently, Jesus is reinforcing this idea that we can have peace, joy and strength in our trials. Also, the fact that trials (trouble) are inevitable in this world was firmly established by this single quote of Our Lord.
Brothers and sisters, take heart. God is not surprised by the circumstances in your life, the trials you may be going through. God truly, deeply cares for you. Go to Him and receive the blessings that He longs to give you. I encourage you to send a prayer request to this webpage; I'll gladly add your request and you can have numerous people praying for you as well.
God bless you,
Ken Siwek
"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way you Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost." Matt. 18: 12-14 (NIV -- used with permission)
I was thinking about this passage recently and one detail popped out: this is the parable of the ninety-nine sheep and the one sheep, not the parable of the ninety-nine sheep and the one goat.
Why do I mention that?
Because there are occasions when we know that we are busy being stupid, messing with sin and we think to ourselves "God, how did I get here? How could you possibly still love me? I wonder if I'm even saved." Let this scripture comfort you and know that (1)yes, there are times (hopefully, very rare) when a child of God will wander off and that (2) God does love and care for that wandering sheep, rejoicing when that child is found again.
There is another application of this scripture: be very careful when dealing with a wandering sheep. This is one that God loves dearly and He will rejoice when this lost sheep is found. God gives another admonition in Galatians about those of us who minister to the wandering and a promise in James:
"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted." Galatians 6:1 (NIV -- used with permission)
"My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from their error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." James 5:19, 20 (NIV -- used with permission)
"But [an expert in the Law of Moses] wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' In reply Jesus said: 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him...This is a passage worth meditating on: for God's sake and yours, think about how this should change your life.
'Which one of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?'
The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.'
Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'" Luke 10:29-33, 36, 37 (NIV)
Did Jesus tell this story to trick the expert in the Law? Or did Jesus tell this story to teach us how we should live as Christians?
How often have we read the book of First John and asked the question "Who is my brother?" I guess there is room here for debate but, for once, let us err on the side of love and say that anyone who draws breath is our brother.
How will that affect us? How should it affect us? Let's seriously examine ourselves and see if we meet the requirement of love. If not, let's open our hearts to God in prayer, listen for the prompting of the Holy Spirit and watch God pour His grace into our lives and then into the lives of others.
You are no different than me: you need people helping you in prayer. Please let us stand with you, complete a prayer request form and let's start praying for you.
"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgement on disputable matters...Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or fails. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." Romans 14: 1, 4 (NIV)
One denomination believes that the "miracle" gifts of the Spirit are
working in the church today; another denomination says that the
gifts ceased after the apostolic age. One denomination chooses to
use this creed, another denomination uses another creed, and a
third non-denomination rejects all creeds as inherently insufficient.
One denomination's liturgy is steeped in tradition, another
denomination's liturgy is dynamic and changeable.
But all of these denominations believe that through the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ, the unique Son of God, we have the gift of
salvation. All of these Christian churches believe that the history of
the world will come to an end and that only those who have trusted
in Christ will see the glorious kingdom of God. These are only two
of our rallying points: places where all Christians can stand united.
Truly, we need to heed the instruction of Paul today: accepting our
brother without passing judgement on disputable matters. Think,
how important is it really that we use guitars in worship or not?
Must we condemn our brother for experiencing a filling of the Holy
Spirit simply because the church we go to does not recognize this
experience, even though those people have a holy respect for the
Bible and an earnest desire to serve God?
You know, there is a reason there are so many different
denominations (that is, apart from the fact that many were formed
by church splits). Can you tell me which church could house both
Pentacostals and Episcopals, for example? One group makes time
for the use of their overt gifts of the Spirit, the other group delights
in the majesty of their service and their fellowship afterwards.
Which one is right? I guess that depends on your preferences. I
prefer a church somewhere in between the two, personally.
So what's the point? If I lead someone to Christ and they end up
not going to my church, but choose a church that loves the Lord
and will teach them how to love and serve God in this world, do I
consider my efforts as worthless? NO! But I rejoice that another
soul was saved from hell and pray for their continued growth in
Christ. I can't improve upon perfection, so I'll Paul sum this up
for me:
"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall." Romans 14:19 - 21 (NIV)
"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders not thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 1Cor 6:9-11 (NIV - Used by permission)
For those of you who believe that homosexuals have 'crossed that
line' and are 'unredeemable', consider this: How is it that Paul
says "and such were some of you (meaning Christians in
the church at Corinth). But you were washed" if homosexuals
can't be saved?
For those of you who believe that homosexuality (or any other
sexual sin) is an acceptable lifestyle, how do you answer the
question "and such were (and that is PAST TENSE !)
some of you. But you were washed..."? Doesn't this show
that they were no longer practicing homosexuality?
But, you may ask, what about the one who is tempted and falls
back into their sexual sin? Is that person beyond hope? NO! We
have I John 1:8,9 to comfort us, especially verse 9.
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, his is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins AND purify us from all unrighteousness." (Emphasis is mine.) 1John 1:8,9 (NIV - Used by permission)
"Now unto (God) who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour,
be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen." Jude 24, 25 (AV)
I personally find this to be one of the most amazing Scriptures around. Hidden in a relatively obscure book of the Bible, this gem informs us that as children of God, we are provided the strength to resist the evil in this world and in our flesh. Not only that, this passage informs us that God is able to forgive our sins and fumblings AND He considers our entrance into His heavenly kingdom as a joyful experience! Not just an "I found a quarter today" -type of joy, but an "I won the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes on the same day that I received the Congressional Medal of Honor, honorary Ph.D's from every major university, cured cancer and AIDS, et cetera, ad nauseum" -type of joy.
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