Thoughts from aSacredRebel following the SacredRebel
God has gone up with a shout,
the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.
(Psalm 47:5-7, NRSV)
Sing praises to God, for He is the king of all the earth!
He is the one who created you and the place in which you dwell.
So raise a shout to God, and sing Him praises with a psalm.
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:15-23, NRSV)
I pray that you get the spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know God, our savior, better.
I pray that your eyes would be opened and enlightened to see the hope we have in Him.
I pray that you would see the greatness and riches He has given you.
But most of all I pray that you would know the immeasurable greatness of His power to do whatever needs to be done for those of us who love and follow Him.
Rest in His greatness and know it is enough for you!
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. (Acts 1:9-14, NRSV)
I always find the question of vers 11 a little humorous, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”
Well Jesus was just taken from us that way. We kind of watched Him leave…
I mean after everything else that happened, I would really be wondering. Jesus was recently killed on the cross, and then He rose from the dead, and now here He goes again doing something, He told us would happen yet, unexpected.
But after this, rather than being locked in a room, they are together, devoted to prayer and mutual consolation. They are doing mutual care and consolation of the saints!
So know that even though Jesus was taken from us, He is always with us, where ever 2 or more are gathered…
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21, NRSV)
This all sounds easy right?
Hate what is evil and hold fast to what is good…
What is good for whom?
Because what is good for me, might be evil for someone else…
Outdo one another in showing honor. So I’m suppose to one up everyone by honoring them more than they honor me?
Bless everyone, and that means those that want to harm you or persecute you!.
Do not curse anyone!
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good! And by doing all of these good things and living in love you will heap burning coals on the head of those who want you or expect you to take vengeance! Kill them with kindness, or better yet, love them into loving with kindness!
Overcome in Christ!
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-12, NRSV)
God’s love was revealed among us by Jesus coming into the world that we might live through Him.
God chose to reveal His love for us by revealing His son to us.
God chose to give us an example to see, and touch and feel. So that we might see His love in action!
So go into the world and reveal His love through your life.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:31-35, NRSV)
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Love one another all the time.
Not only when you agree.
Not only when you get along.
Not only when you get your way.
Not only when people do what you want them to.
There are no conditions to Jesus commandment.
Love one another.
It is that simple.
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. (John 15:9-17, NRSV)
Who are you?
It is a question we get asked all the time. And how do we answer that question?
Well I am a pastor, a father, a husband, a brother, a friend, a musician, a blogger, a social media junkie…
But do these really say who I am?
We can use all kind of words to describe who we are, but there is one identity that is where who we are really lies.
In the 15th chapter of John, Jesus is telling the disciples that they need to abide in Him so their joy will be complete. Now remember that Jesus is saying this hours before He is arrested, put on trial, beat, and crucified. And also before He knows what will happen to the disciples. That their joy would be complete! And they may know that Jesus loves them. They did not choose Jesus, but Jesus chose them. Just like you. Jesus chose you. So abide in His love.
Philip Yancey writes about identity in What’s So Amazing about Grace?:
Not long ago I received in the mail a postcard from a friend that had on it only six words, “I am the one Jesus loves.” I smiled when I saw the return address, for my strange friend excels at these pious slogans. When I called him, though, he told me the slogan came from the author and speaker Brennan Manning. At a seminar, Manning referred to Jesus’ closest friend on earth, the disciple named John, identified in the Gospels as “the one Jesus loved.” Manning said, “If John were to be asked, ‘What is your primary identity in life?’ he would not reply, ‘I am a disciple, an apostle, an evangelist, an author of one of the four Gospels,’ but rather, ‘I am the one Jesus loves.’”
What would it mean, I ask myself, if I too came to the place where I saw my primary identity in life as “the one Jesus loves”? How differently would I view myself at the end of a day?
Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self: you become what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, etc.) thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible’s astounding words about God’s love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?
Brennan Manning tells the story of an Irish priest who, on a walking tour of a rural parish, sees an old peasant kneeling by the side of the road, praying. Impressed, the priest says to the man, “You must be very close to God.” The peasant looks up from his prayers, thinks a moment, and then smiles, “Yes, he’s very fond of me.” [pp. 68-69]
Could you answer the question who are you with “I am the one Jesus loves!”
Because you are! It is not for anything that you have done, or will do, and in spite of all the things you have done and will do, Jesus loves you.
Jesus is very fond of you, because you are the one Jesus loves!
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
(Psalm 1:1-3, NRSV)
A tree is good for fruit and to help produce oxygen and to provide shade.
If it is not doing these things it will be cut down or blown down.
If it is not getting what it needs a tree will not grow the way it needs to.
So if it is planted by streams of water, it will get fed.
So plant yourself in the bible and a community that studies the word and lives in communion with God, and grow and produce the good fruit that God intends for you to produce.
For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14, NRSV)
I love this thought, that there is someone out there who is always praying for me.
This could be your job. Not to pray for me, but for our brothers and sisters.
We are told by Paul to be praying without ceasing, and we see how he prayed for others.
How can we do this?
Pray for others?
How about you carry a list with you and pray for those people throughout the day.
Or if you have a smart phone or tablet, make a list on that. Or better yet search the iTunes store or Play Store for an app, there is an app for that!
Make it your undertaking to pray, and then know that someone is probably also praying for you!
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:16-26, NRSV)
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
But wouldn’t that be fruits of the spirit?
I mean fruit is singular, or is it. I live on fruit, means I don’t eat anything but fruit, but does it mean I only eat apples? And then is that only one type of apple?
Don’t all of these things love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control kind of have to do with the one thing we are told to do by Jesus and the Hebrew Scriptures: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul and love you neighbor as yourself.
Love.
If there is love there is joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All of these things could be attributes of love.
So is the fruit of the spirit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, or is it Love, and all the rest are attributes of love?
Yes is the answer. If you are living a life filled with the Spirit you will care more for the other than you will for yourself, so there will be all 9 of these: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
So live filled with the Spirit, and care for the other.
aSacredRebel