Imperfection (#GrowingLeader)

 

If you wait to be perfect first before you serve God, you will never start to serve. But by His grace, He can use imperfect people to accomplish His will. Leaders, don't be discouraged, just be available for Him to use you 😊🤜🤛 #ServeToLead #GrowingLeader #Imperfection

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THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus Revealed the Distant and Mysterious God

“[Jesus said] “If you had known who I am, then you would have known who my Father is. From now on you know him – and have seen him!’ Philip said, ‘Sir, show us the Father and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus replied, ‘Don’t you even yet know who I am, Philip, even after all this time I have been with you? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking to see him? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say are not my own but are from my Father who lives in me. And he does his work through me. Just believe it – that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or else believe it because of the mighty miracles you have seen me do’”
(John 14:7-11, The Living Bible)

The disciples’ response to Jesus’ statement about Himself reveals that they didn’t understand fully His divinity (I understand if the world also don’t get it yet). In this chapter 14 alone, Jesus describes three important aspects of His unique identity: 1) He and the Father share characteristics in such a way that if you has seen one has also seen the other; 2) He and the Father are united in such a way that when Jesus speaks the Father speaks; and 3) He claimed that any Christ-centred requests to God made in His Name will be answered.

To know Jesus is to know the Father. “No one has ever actually seen God, but, of course, his only Son has, for he is the companion of the Father and has told us all about him” (John 1:18). “Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God” (Colossians 1:15). “God’s Son shines out with God’s glory, and all that God’s Son is and does marks him as God” (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus insisted that because the disciples knew Him, they knew the Father already. It’s good to note that to the Jews, God was sovereign Creator, holy and separate from them. God loved and chose them, of course, but He was distant and mysterious (different but similar from Allah of Islam). In the Incarnation, however, God “became a human being and lived here on earth among us” (John 1:14). If you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus!

I’ve been thinking and praying about this statement from Jesus: “From now on you know [the Father]” What does it mean? I think, from that time forward – the moment Jesus said it – people could know the Father personally and intimately through the Son. Jesus is “the way” to God (14:6). This is strikingly amazing! God has revealed Himself generally in nature and specifically in the Scripture. But now – in the New Testament period – God has revealed Himself perfectly in His Son. If you want to know what God is like, you need only look at Jesus.

When you struggle with doubts about God and His love for you, look at Jesus.

When you need to get your values and priories straight, look at Jesus.

When you desire hope for the future, look at Jesus.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Young Men, Consider the Returning Jesus

“I will come back” (John 14:3, NIV)

The return of Christ to earth is the denouement toward which the Church has been looking for centuries. “Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11) and so is the second coming of our Lord. It is not only the object of our anticipation, but of admonition to very practical Christian duties. A careful study will reveal that this event is linked to every great doctrine and ethical duty.

It sounds a call to consecration (means the separation of oneself from things that are unclean, especially anything that would contaminate one’s relationship with a perfect God). “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed” (Revelation 16:15). We are to be careful in keeping our garments of the soul stainless. Are we as careful in this realm as we are of the garments we wear? When others see our garments, they see us. We are to “clothed with Christ” (Galatians 3:27 or “put on”) so that others will see Him when they see us. In these Laodicea days our Lord counsels us to “buy from me… white clothes to wear…” (Revelation 3:18).

His return carries with it the assurance of reward. “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me” (Revelation 22:12). There is a tendency to regard the reward motive as a commercializing of Christianity, but it played a prominent part in the thinking of the early Church. Paul frequently refers to it, as did his Master. Some Christians piously protest that they will be content with the lowest place in heaven, but this is false humility and could be a cloak of spiritual lethargy. “Run in such a way as to get the prize,” that is, the promised reward (1 Corinthians 9:24). It any case, rewards are not given. They are earned. Heavenly rewards are for earthly renunciations.

The second coming is an encouragement to continuance. “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (Revelation 3:11). In Hebrews 2:1 we are exhorted not to drift away from the truth we have heard. The ascended Lord urges us to hold fast what we already have, lest our reward be taken by someone else. His imminent return provides the motive for this. There may still be years before this blessed hope is realized. Let us fill the days with sacrificial service. Spiritual idleness/laziness means eternal loss.

[Edited, modified and modernized from Consider Him (1976) by J. Oswald Sanders]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus's Perfect Love = No Fear of God's Judgement and Punishment (1 John 4:17-18)

“[As] we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love”

(1 John 4:17-18, NLT).

Early in the Apostle John’s letter (1 John 2:28), he talks about the confidence we will have when Christ returns because of our faith in God. At that time, people who have turned away from God will feel afraid and helpless. It will be too late – nothing more can happen. The opportunities people have had to understand God’s Word or to accept Jesus – the Son of God – as Lord and Saviour will be gone, and unbelievers will be speechless and unable to move because of their fear. True Christians, on the other hand, will feel strong and sure; they have put their belief in God.

Fears and anxieties are powerful emotions. Whether we feel fear (when we know what we are afraid of), or anxiety (when we feel afraid but we’re not sure what is causing it), such feelings can make us want to back off, withdraw, run or hide. We will often feel unsure or powerless when faced with a certain situation or person. And running away may seem like the only solution. Some of us may feel that our fears are controlling us; all we can think about is being afraid. Sometimes we even get afraid of being afraid, so we avoid certain situations to keep from becoming so strong that they overwhelm us.

But here is the great news (!) for coping with our fears: “As we live in God, our love grows more perfect… Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.” As we walk in God’s light and live with God, our fears are banished. There is no room for fear in love. It is like oil and water – the two will just not mix. Love and fear are like that; they are not compatible. God calls us to be strong, courageous persons, not weak, cowardly nerds. “Love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.”

Friends, let’s go back to the confidence we will have as Christians when Christ returns. We know that “we will not be afraid on the day of judgment” or “fear of punishment” because we have accepted Christ (if not, you’re sure to be afraid). Jesus Christ Himself is on our side, His blood covers us – and God’s Spirit lives within us. As we believe and have confidence in God about the future, we can learn to cope with our fears on a day-to-day basis. We need to recognize and deal with our fears rather than avoid them. Then we can pray that God will help us face those situations that make us so afraid, to give us the courage to walk towards our fears rather than away from them. Well, walking through our fears may feel like walking through a long, dark tunnel. If we think about how long the tunnel is we may be tempted to give up. But if we take one step at a time, soon we feel stronger and our fears begin to lose their power. Soon the light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter and brighter, and we can find our way more easily than before. No fear.

The Apostle Paul reminds us that “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). That is a gift God has given us. But it’s like a Christmas present. If we put a present away and don’t unwrap it, the gift won’t do us any good.  And the gifts of courage and love won’t be ours until we claim them and ask God to change whatever habits have been giving us problems. And this love we experience with God becomes more and more perfect (or mature and complete). “As we live in God, our love grows more perfect.” It just keeps getting better and better toward perfection in Christ.

So the next time you feel like running for your life, stop! Remember the courage God promises to give you. Make use of it. Face your fears. Claim God's promises and words. And your fears will do the running instead of you. Amen?

Come let us “fully experienced his perfect love.”

With Christ. No fear.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus the Perfect Saviour wants Us to Take Sin Very Seriously (1 John 3:4-7)

“Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, there is no sin in him. Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous”

(1 John 3:4-7, NLT).

The Apostle John is dealing again with the question of sin. Even though he was kind and gentle (tradition says that he was called “the Apostle of love”), he could also be strong and direct (earlier he was called “the son of thunder” after all). Without being afraid of offending everyone else, John reminds us most bluntly that sin is not something to wink at – instead sin is lawlessness and active rebellion against God. Sin is “breaking God’s law” and “contrary to the law of God.” To sin is to obey oneself rather than God and shows that something is wrong in our relationship with God. We “keep on sinning” because we didn’t continue to live in Jesus. Please take sins seriously.

Friends, when it comes to sin, one possible explanation is that God’s Word (they say) is just too difficult for people to understand or obey; so they use that as an excuse for doing whatever they want to do. But God has promised that what He asks for us will not be impossible; in fact, God promises to give us the strength and confidence to do what is right. What God commands, He also enables us to obey it. John here also says that we “keep on sinning” because in reality we “do not know [Jesus] or understand who he is.” Could it be that the ‘Jesus’ that we know of is not the real or the distorted view of Jesus of the Bible? Or could it be that we understand Jesus differently from what the Bible actually taught us about who He really is? Or could it be that we don’t understand fully what “Jesus came to take away our sins” mean to us personally? Or could it be all of the above? If you keep on sinning, check your doctrines and what you’ve been taught about Jesus. For us to “abide” and “continues to live in Him”, we need to know Him as He really is.

So, then, as Christians, it comes down to a problem of attitude or will that makes us do what is wrong. And John seems to be talking about an attitude rather than specific actions alone. To know Jesus, the Perfect Saviour – the One who “is no sin in him” – is to outlaw sin especially deliberate, knowing, and habitual sins. Continue to live and abide in Him. We know that in this life we will never be entirely free of sin; we are still human. But we can aim by the power of the Holy Spirit to stop the pattern of sin, the kind of lifestyle in which sin is a bad habit.

The key point here is that the way we live shows the source from which we get our strengths and values. If we live in a way that shows that God is most important, we may still not be perfect, but we will be honoring God by breaking those bad habits or sins which keep us from growing and being joyful as Christians. “When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.” Remember: Nothing is impossible with God. Jesus, the Son of God, came to take away our sins, there is no sin in him. Thus, He is perfect and able to help you. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus Is Light and There is No Darkness in Him at All (1 John 1:5)

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you:

God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all” (1 John 1:5, NLT).

The Scriptures call God many different things to help us understand who God is. One of the most graphic terms used to describe Him is light. “God is light.” Apostle John says that because of who God is, “there is no darkness in him at all”; it is God’s very nature to be a powerful Light piercing the darkness and confusion of this life. God’s light shows us the way. In Psalm 43:3, we read: “Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me.” Just as torchlight, physical light can help us find our way and feel safe, so God’s light can give us direction spiritually and help us know where we are going in life.

Another purpose of light is to point to and take care of imperfections. The whole principle behind the x-ray is that strong light can see through or penetrate our body to show up our inner body. Light (like a laser beam or think of a Star Wars lightsaber) can also be focused sharply enough to cut or repair damage or wipe out a tumor or cancer or other illnesses. When I saw a baby was blindfolded and placed in a special incubator because of a blood problem, a strong light was aimed toward the baby’s body – hot and bright light – and within a day the blood condition returned to normal because of the healing power of that light. Light can heal.

Now, according to Apostle John, the opposite of light is darkness, which is not just darkness in a physical sense but in a spiritual sense. If the light is truth, then darkness is ignorance. If the light is purity, then darkness is sin. If the light is good, then darkness is evil. The Apostle Paul reminds us: “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13). In a physical sense, generally, most plants and animals do not grow well if they are always in darkness. Without the warm, nourishing light of the sun, most plants would die. Light is also nourishing and brings growth; darkness, on the other hand, is weakening and stops growth.

God’s light is like that: to live in God’s light is to grow and change; to live outside of God’s light is to be confused and lost. Living with God gives us the courage not only to cope with our fears and frustrations but also to enjoy life to the fullest. Jesus said about Himself this way: “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12) and he said, “God is light.” Both are the same. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Letters to Annie: Substance is More Important than Appearance

Dear Annie,

            I love you just like you are. You’re beautiful. No doubt. If you think you’re not or you think people don’t seem to look at you that way – who cares? – I, I earnestly think and confess that you’re beautiful. But you must understand that I first fall in love with you is not because you’re (just) beautiful but because you’re a God-fearing woman and you’re freakingly love Jesus. Even though you always say you’re “not perfect” (of course, my dear) you know that in Christ you’re perfectly perfect. It is perfectly okay.

            You see, we’re living in a society that is obsessed with “looking good.” Jesus said this to the Pharisees, “You make yourself look good in front of people, but God knows what is really in your hearts. What is important to people is hateful in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15). Everywhere we turn, we’re confronted with a steady stream of subtle messages that try to convince us to look good. Like Brennan Manning said, “The temptation of the age is to look good without being good.” These messages are not only false, but they are also dangerous to our spiritual and emotional health. Remember the day you said to me that you don’t care much about my look? I was very relieved. That’s another reason why I fall for you.

            I want to build a better life and stronger relationships with you. So here’s a great place for us to start: worry less about appearances and more about substance. Let’s do this! For sure, when we do this, we may find that we’re a little out of step with the world, which is – perfectly okay – who cares? “You will quickly be deceived if you look only the outward appearance of men,” writes Thomas A. Kempis, “and you will often be disappointed if you seek comfort and gain in them.” After all, the world sees people and things as they appear to Jn, but God sees them as they are. People look “at the outward appearance, but [God] looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). And that’s the way we should see them, too.  The old-time saying is forever true: “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

The world shouts, “Appearance! Appearance! Appearance!” But God whom we worship affirms, “Heart, heart, heart, I look at your heart!” My Annie, in Christ our hearts are renewed day by day – pure and holy – unto God. Can decent, courteous, and simple appearances by our mottos? (But once in a while there is nothing wrong with grandeur and gorgeous appearances. At the end of the day, God looks at the heart). May we don’t be too worried about what we look like on the outside but be more concerned about the kind of persons we are on the inside.

I never tired of saying,

“I miss you”,

Richard

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus: the Perfect Priest

When we see Christ, what will we see?

We will see the perfect priest, “clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band” (Revelation 1:13). The first readers of this message knew the significance of the robe and band. Jesus is wearing the clothing of a priest. A priest presents people to God and God to people.

You have known other priests. There have been others in your life, whether clergy or not, who sought to bring you to God. But they, too, needed a priest. Some needed a priest more than you did. They, like you, were sinful. Not so with Jesus. “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26).

Jesus is the perfect priest.

He is also pure and purifying: “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire” (Revelation 1:14).

What would a person look like if he had never sinned? If no worry wrinkled his brow and no anger shadowed his eyes? If no bitterness snarled his lips and no selfishness bowed his smile? If a person had never sinned, how would he appeared? We’ll know when we see Jesus. What John [the apostle] saw that Sunday on Patmos [place where John wrote the Revelation] was absolutely spotless. He was reminded of the virgin wool of sheep and the untouched snow of winter.

And John was also reminded of fire. Others saw the burning bush, the burning altar, the fiery furnace, or the fiery chariots, but John saw the fiery eyes. And in those eyes he saw a purging blaze which will burn the bacteria of sin and purify the soul.

[From When Christ Comes by Max Lucado, bracket mine]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus: Restorer of Hope

Portrait of a Good Shepherd

Your Shepherd knows that you were not made for this place. He knows you are not equipped for this place. So he has come to guide you out. He has come to restore your soul. He is the perfect one to do so.

He has the right vision… He also has the right direction… But most of all, he is the right person, for he is our God. Who knows the jungle better than the One who made it? And who knows the pitfalls of the path better than the One who has walked it? ...So rather than give us an answer, Jesus gives us a far greater gift. He gives us himself.

Does he remove the jungle? No, the vegetation is still thick.

Does he purge the predators? No, the danger still lurks.

Jesus doesn’t give us hope by changing the jungle; he restores our hope by giving us himself. And he promised to stay until the very end. “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). We need that reminder. We all need that reminder. For all of us need hope.

And though you don’t need your hope restored today, you may tomorrow. And you need to know to whom to turn. Or perhaps you do need hope today. You know you were not made for this place. You know you are not equipped. You want someone to lead you out.

If so, call out for your Shepherd. He knows your voice. And he’s just waiting for your request.

[From Travelling Light by Max Lucado]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Francois Turrettini on the Threefold Office of Christ (Prophet, Priest and King)

The writings of John Calvin, especially his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559), established a pattern which would become widespread within the Reformed Christology. The significance of Christ was explored using the model of the “threefold office,” which depicted him as prophet, priest and king. As a prophet, Christ declared the will of God; as a priest, he made atonement for sins; and as king, he rules over his people. The noted seventeenth-century Genevan theologian Francois Turrettini, a major exponent of the Reformed tradition, here sets out this understanding more fully, in a text originally published in Latin in 1679:

“The office of [Jesus] Christ is nothing other than a mediation between God and humanity, which he was sent into the world by the Father and anointed by the Holy Spirit to carry out. It embraces all that Christ was required to achieve during his mission and calling in relation to an offended God and offending humanity (erga Deus offensum et homines offendentes), reconciling and uniting them to each other…

This mediatorial office of Christ is distributed among three functions, which are individual parts of it: the prophetic, priestly and kingly. Christ sustained these together rather than separately, something which he alone was able to do. For what would, in the case of other people, be divided on account of his supreme perfection. There could indeed be people who were both kings and priests (such as Melchizedek) or kings and prophets (such as David), or priests and prophets (as in the case of some high priests) – but there is no other who perfectly fulfilled all three. This was reserved for Christ alone, in that he was able to uphold the truth which is embodied in these types…

The threefold misery of humanity resulting from sin (that is, ignorance, guilt, and the oppression and bondage of sin) required this threefold office. Ignorance is healed through the prophetic office, guilt through the priestly, and the oppression and bondage of sin through the kingly. The prophetic light scatters the darkness of error; the merit of the priest removes guilt and obtains reconciliation for us; the power of the king takes away the bondage of sin and death. The prophet shows God to us; the priest leads us to God; and the king joins us together with God, and glorifies us with him. The prophet illuminates the mind by the spirit of enlightenment; the priest soothes the heart and conscious by the spirit of consolation; the king subdues rebellious inclinations by the spirit of sanctification.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

References:

1) Institutio theologiae elencticae, topic 14, q. 5; in Institutio theologiae elenticae, 3 vols (Rome: Trajecti, 1734), vol. 2, pp. 424-427.

2) The Christian Theology Reader, edited by Alister E. McGrath (Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1995), pp. 153-154.