Jesus Christ is our hope!

I grew up in Philadelphia in a very dysfunctional family. My father was a verbally and physically abusive alcoholic. There were many times my mother, my sister and I had to flee for safety to a relative’s house.

My mother put us in Catholic school to get a good education. We also got a good dose of religion. Catholic school taught me that if I was good enough, I would get to heaven. So I tried to please God by doing good. Only problem was I wasn't very good at being good or doing good.

In 1969 we moved to New Jersey and I started attending public school. That was around the time when both my parents became Christians but I became disillusioned with organized religion. So I turned to drugs and alcohol and lived a very wild and self-destructive life for many years.

At 21 years of age, a Christian bookstore owner invited me to church where I first heard the gospel and gave my life over to the control of Christ. Jesus Christ can bring hope to an otherwise hopeless life.

When you become a Christian, something supernatural happens! You receive the Holy Spirit. This physical body becomes the temple of God. The Holy Spirit gives us assurance that we're in God’s family.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:16-17

When you're a member of God’s family, you're an heir to a spiritual inheritance.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14

The Holy Spirit is the earnest, the down payment, the guarantee of our inheritance. Now you have the Spirit living within but one day we get to cash in the Holy Spirit for our full inheritance, living eternally with God.

I know what it’s like to be without hope. Maybe you feel hopeless today. You may have a degenerative or terminal disease. Your marriage may be on the rocks. You may be a drug addict or alcoholic. You may be on the brink of financial failure. You may have given up all hope and want to end it all. That’s not the answer. Jesus is the answer. There is no problem so big that God can’t solve it. Your life may be a chaotic mess but there is hope in Jesus Christ. Stop running from God. Turn and run to Him!

Walk the Walk

When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the saints at Colossae, he wanted to encourage them to continue to walk the walk of faith. That means that their daily conduct and character should exemplify Christ and bring honor to His name. Just like today there were false teachers creeping into their church, so Paul prayed that the Colossians would have godly wisdom, knowledge and understanding.

We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:9-10

What a contrast between Paul's prayer and most of the prayers we hear today. Usually we pray for physical healing and blessing or for material wants and needs. However, Paul prayed for their spiritual growth. When is the last time you prayed for someone's spirtual growth rather than their physical well being?

Paul prayed for their spiritual knowledge so they would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him. Since these things were written down for our learning, how do we walk in a manner worthy of the Lord? The answer is right there in his prayer. We walk in a worthy manner by growing (bearing fruit in every good work) and knowing (increasing in the knowledge of God).

Just like a fruit tree, God designed Christians to bear spiritual fruit. Jesus said this brings glory to God and lets others know that we belong to Him.We also should be increasing in the knowledge of God. There is nothing worse than an immature adult, and as you grow from a spiritual baby to spiritual adulthood you should become mature. Maturity comes by studying and applying the word of God. Another way to walk worthy of the Lord is to be strengthened with His power and to be thankful.

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:11-14

When we are relying on the Lord for our strength, He gives the power to endure life's circumstance with patience and joy. In these verses we also see several reasons to have thankful hearts. We give thanks to God the Father because He has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Our bodies are the temple of the indwelling Holy Spirit and we have the promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ. We are also grateful that God has delivered us from Satan's snare and transferred us into the kingdom of His dearly beloved Son. Through Jesus' death, burial and resurrection we have redemption and the forgiveness of our sins. So, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ today...growing, knowing, strong and grateful!

Substitutionary Atonement

You’re not a sinner because you sin; you sin because you’re a sinner. We were born sinners and sin separates us from God. You can try in futility to atone for your sins or accept the price that has already been paid for our sin through Jesus Christ.

Have you ever wondered why people die? It all began with our ancestors Adam and Eve. They were warned not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said that if they ate from that tree they would surely die. They disobeyed God and death came into the world. The penalty for our sin is death.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27

But if you die without Christ you will experience spiritual death, eternal separation from God.

Yes, God is love but sin’s penalty must still be paid. So the Son of God decided to become our divine substitute. This would require Him to leave heaven, come to earth and take on flesh and blood. 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Jesus Christ our sinless Savior bore the sins of the world on the cross.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 

When Jesus shed His blood on the cross, a merciful and loving God was able to pardon and cleanse everyone who would receive Him, because the divine substitute took upon Himself the penalty for our sin.

To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 

 

The atonement is unlimited in scope, available for all. The love of God reached out to the whole world when God gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Scripture undoubtedly shows the universality of the provision of the Atonement. Jesus clearly died for everyone. The opportunity to be born again is now given to you.

The atonement is sufficient for all men, but it is only efficient only for those who believe! The atonement becomes effective when you receive Christ by faith. Jesus Christ died for the entire world, but if you don’t accept God’s gift, you have no other recourse.

The Mind of Christ

In Christ do you have any encouragement?
Any comfort from his love?
Are your hearts tender and compassionate?
Any fellowship from the Spirit above?

Then make me truly happy
loving one another, be kind,
agree with each other wholeheartedly,
work together, one purpose, one mind.

Life is too short to be selfish
there’s no need to try to impress.
With humility put others first.
Don’t look out for your own interests.

Have the same attitude as Christ Jesus
who took the humble position of a slave
and was born in human flesh
to offer the way to be saved.

When he appeared in human form,
in humility He obeyed God’s plan
died a criminal’s death on the cross
provided redemption for every man.

God granted Him the highest honor
His name is above all other names
every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
Jesus Christ is Lord, heaven and earth proclaims.

Based on Philippians 2:1-11

Conflict Resolution

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:26-29

I have learned from experience that conflict is inevitable, nobody likes it, but sooner or later you're going to have to deal with it and there is a proper way to do it. God says to "Be angry and do not sin."  Kinda sounds like an oxymoron but it's not. Anger is a God given emotion that occurs when injustice happens. Even Jesus got angry when merchants used the temple for a marketplace instead of a place of worship. 

Our problem is that we get angry for the wrong reasons, we let it get out of control and we don't deal with it right away. It's best to deal with the source of the conflict as soon as possible and then let it go. "Don't let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil."  When you hold a grudge you give the devil an opportunity to worsen the situation. God desires that we pursue peace with all men.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;  for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20
  
Scripture says that God is "slow to anger and quick to forgive" but many times we are quick to anger and slow to forgive. We need to learn to listen more and speak less when conflicts arise.  "A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered." Proverbs 17:27

Many communication problems are listening problems. Too often we don't hear what the other person is saying because we're too busy formulating a response in our head.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:6

When grace saturates your speech it changes the content and the tone of what you say. Choose your words carefully, not just reacting and blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. Avoid being sarcastic and condescending because that only exacerbates the situation. Speak the truth in love.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:31

Bitterness occurs when you hold a grudge and won't forgive. It's an inward hostility that poisons you from within. You want to hurt them but you only hurt yourself. "Bitterness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die." Bitterness eats you up inside and what's worse is it grieves the Holy Spirit of God. 

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

When someone hurts you, it's only natural to want to hurt them back. You want to punish them. Forgiveness is sending away your right to punish. Don't confuse forgiveness with reconciliation. Reconciliation takes two people, forgiveness only takes one. Be willing to forgive whether the other person apologizes or not. The only alternative to forgiveness is bitterness. Forgiveness is costly. Jesus sacrificed His life on the cross so that we can be forgiven of our sins.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14-15

Conformed to be Content

We live in a society that is programmed to be discontented. 

The goal of advertising to make you

discontented with what you have. Consider commercials for cars, trucks, computers, cell phones, soft drinks, cereals, even prescription drugs. Instead of being content we think, “If I just had some money in the bank, or the right job or get that new car, then I will be satisfied." So we get some new stuff and when the novelty wears off, we are right back where we started - discontented. You're never going to be happy if stuff controls the content of your life. God wants you to learn the secret of contentment.

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 1 Timothy 6:6-8

When you become a Christian, God has a plan for your life. His plan, His desire to that you be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. He was the perfect, sinless God-man, who only did the will of the Father.

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29 

We don’t live in a perfect world. We're going to encounter difficulties in this life. We live in a world that is marred by sin. If we could have it our way, nothing would ever go wrong. But people die, we have pain, there are disabilities, marital problems, financial problems, unemployment, problems with children, legal problems, interpersonal conflicts and addictions. How do we learn to cope?

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

One way to make forged steel is to heat the metal to very high temperatures. The higher the temperature, the easier it is for the metal to take shape and less likely to crack under pressure. Forged steel is heated and pounded so that the metal becomes stronger than before. You can become stronger through the trials of life.

Consider all the apostle Paul went through, then look at his attitude. He learned the secret of contentment.

I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Contentment is something that has to be learned. Paul learned to be content by trusting God when life’s mountains seem insurmountable. He could deal with suffering and beatings and imprisonment, and discouragement and hunger, because he learned to be content in every situation of life. His faith was not in material possessions, but in God. You too can learn the secret of contentment by trusting God.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6