Category: Verses of Strength and Encouragement

1 John 4:7-8

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

“DEAR FRIENDS, LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER”

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Do you know a flawed person? I meet with one every morning in the mirror. What I have learned is that we are all flawed and broken in some way. But when we exchange pleasantries, “How are you?” The answer is often, “I’m good” or “I’m great!” or “I’m doing fine.” We put up a wall that says, “I want you to think I’m good or great,” or “I don’t want to let my guard down with you.” We put up a false front most of the time and so does most everyone else we come in contact with.

But let’s be real with one another. If we are truly going to walk out our Christian faith, we must love one another, and loving one another means we have to be vulnerable. Being vulnerable involves trust, and we don’t openly trust. Why don’t we trust? We fear if we share our struggles it won’t be held in confidence. Love involves respect. If I ask you if there’s something I can pray for you about, I am opening a channel with you of mutual respect and trust. If you choose to respond, I’m going to receive that response in confidence and thus build love through my respect for your willingness to share and my commitment that you can trust me.

“DEAR FRIENDS, LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER”. These can be merely words that sound good and make us feel good, but taking action to love one another can be messy. It makes us vulnerable. It can be risky business to reach out to someone and sincerely ask them if you can pray for them. BUT, I have found that most people will receive your offer with a grateful heart, and you will be blessed by their reception. We need one another! I need you in my life. You are very valuable and important to me! Let’s not just feel good about these words, let’s live them! It starts with a conversation…Below is a classic gospel song I hope you will listen to and it will touch you as it does me:

 

Ephesians 2:4-5

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

“MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST” We know that we were dead in our sin, and that by His grace we are saved and have eternal life. But I want you to think beyond just the salvation aspect of being alive in Christ. Once we become one with Jesus and begin the transformational process of dying to ourself, HE fills us with His Spirit. The more we die to our own ways and the pattern of the world, Christ fills our heart with His joy. Have you noticed this? Our joy is made complete through Him and though we still have struggles and people that upset us or do us wrong, we still have His joy in our heart.

What does being “alive with Christ” mean for you? Reflect on this today… I hope to see you tonight at Fuel! Jim

Ephesians 2:4-5

“God, who is rich in mercy”

Rich synonyms include; plentiful, abundant, lavish, generous, bountiful.

Mercy – compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.

When I put the synonyms for rich and the definition of mercy together, what jumps out to me is “abundant compassion”, “lavish forgiveness”! We have a Father in heaven who cares deeply about us. I hope you will allow this to permeate your heart today.

Ephesians 2:4-5 “Alive in Christ”

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Okay, you are going to find that I have a personal fondness for the Book of Ephesians. As we leave our study of 2 Corinthians 5:17 where we learned we are a New Creation, now we turn to a verse in Ephesians that reinforces the fact that being a new creation isn’t a singular event. Jesus is alive in us! As we live in Him, He lives in us. He is ACTIVE in our daily lives! I love the opening of Ephesians 2 and have shared it with you below to give you the full context of our study this week:

“1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Today we begin our focus on the opening words of Ephesians 2:4 – “BUT BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US”. Let’s pray on these words today. How great is His love for you?

2 Corinthians 5:17 (Final Post)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a  new creation: The old has gone, the new is here!”

We finalize 2 Corinthians 5:17 with the final statement – “THE OLD HAS GONE, THE NEW IS HERE!” Now you may not have noticed, but the end of this statement has an exclamation point. In spite of my personal excitement, I didn’t add that exclamation point, it was already there. Paul had the same excitement when he penned them and we should too!

The common problem I see with many Christians is that they have a hard time letting go of the old. I hope you will reflect on these words today.

Have a great weekend! Jim

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

I hope this next part of the verse gets you fired up! “THE NEW CREATION HAS COME”. You are a New Creation in Christ Jesus! Are you connecting the pieces together yet through the verses we’ve studied thus far? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then the Word became flesh, and He made His dwelling among us. John said they saw His Glory, the glory of the one and only Son, sent by the Father, and full of grace and truth. Because He is the way, and truth and life, we no longer lean on our own understanding but allow the Good Shepherd to guide our path. And because we have experienced Christ, and the fullness of His Love, we are in Him, we are a New Creation!

Have you experienced the love of Christ and know you have been transformed and are a New Creation? Pray over this today! Walk in the knowledge that you are a New Creation! If you haven’t felt that depth of Christ’s love yet, that’s okay. I didn’t find the love of Jesus until I was in my 30’s. BUT, if that is you, talk with Pastor Joe or me or one of the youth leaders. You don’t have to wait until your 30’s to experience the love of Christ and believe me, you don’t want to wait.

2 Corinthians 5:17

“THEREFORE IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST”

Are you ONE ?  Remember John 15:5? Jesus said, “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES. IF YOU REMAIN IN ME AND I REMAIN IN YOU, YOU WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT. APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING.” As we learned in Proverbs 3:5, we TRUST IN THE LORD and lean not on our understanding. And the reason we trust in the Lord? The reason is because we ARE IN CHRIST,

My hope is that God speaks to each of us about being in Christ. That being in Christ makes us a NEW CREATION. Today, please reflect on being in Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:18 “Fixing Our Eyes on Things Eternal”

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Our journey and progression through the scriptures has revealed to us an initial insight of the essence of Christ; the Word is eternal, the Word was with the Father, the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. Jesus declared he is the way and the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. We can do all things through Him because He strengthens us. He is the vine and we are the branches. If we remain in Him and Him in each of us we will bear much fruit, and apart from Him we can do nothing.

We have also learned what our part is in growing and staying close to Him. We need to be still and know that He is God. Our Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. In order for us to grow in our faith we can no longer conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. When we do this, our faith grows and Jesus reveals Himself more and more to us so that we are able to test and approve His perfect will and through this our faith is further strengthened.

And so we come to our new verse- “SO WE FIX OUR EYES NOT ON WHAT IS SEEN, BUT ON WHAT IS UNSEEN, SINCE WHAT IS SEEN IS TEMPORARY, BUT WHAT IS UNSEEN IS ETERNAL.” Our daily transformation happens through our assurance in what we do not see and moves us from thoughts of the world to thoughts of the spirit. We will begin our study of this verse with the opening – “SO WE FIX OUR EYES”. Let’s meditate today on where we fix our attention (“eyes”) during the day. What thoughts are keeping us from connecting with Jesus? God never changes. We are either moving closer to Him in our thought life, or we are moving away from Him.

 

John 1:14 (Final Post)

“full of grace and truth.”

“FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH”. We end the week with the final words of John 1:14. Powerful words! He, Jesus, the Word, was full of grace and truth. He was the perfection of a servant’s heart, benevolent, and lead by the Father to heal the sick and broken. He was the perfection of truth, spending His time indiscriminately with all who would listen to declare the truth. False prophets preceded Him and false prophets have followed Him and dwell among us today, but Jesus was and is the way, the truth, and the life.

I hope you will take time today to soak in these words. Put these final words in the context of the complete verse -“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”