"Love...As I Have Loved...."

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."  (John 13:34, From today's Gospel reading)

It is not, "A new option I give to you."  This is a command, not a feeling.  I may not always "feel good" about a person, but I have no option but to love that person. 

But then Jesus goes further and states, "as I have loved you,..love one another."  The, "as I have loved you," is giving of Himself, ultimately demonstrated in The Cross.  Love is giving.  Most people love on the basis of feeling, on the performance of the other.  In the Untied States the divorce rate among first marriages is 41%, among second marriages 60%, and third marriages 73%.  This tells me that once the search for "better" begins, once the search to recapture that "old feeling" takes over, it accelerates.  Of course there are "legitimate" reasons for divorce, but most have no legitimacy; they are feeling based.  Anyone who lives life based upon feelings is setting himself up for major life disappointments and instability.

As we gather with family and friends this Christmas Season, may our Lord Jesus keep us ever mindful of this: No matter what a person does, or who they are, you and I have no choice, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."  Now if anyone is tempted to say, "O, that command is among Christians," then, "Love your neighbor as yourself," ruins that line of thought. 

If Jesus loved you and me on the basis of what we have done/do, or who were are, well, we would be finished.  But He does not.  He loves because, "God is love."  It's as though He cannot help Himself.  Love is the Person of Jesus Christ. 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I still need to learn so much about love.  I know that only in You can I, "love...as [You] have loved [me]."  Amen.
******************
Go to:  jhs58.blogspot.com  only if you don't want truth.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

The Condition of "The City"

"....Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?"  (Neh. 2:3, from today's Reading in the Law-History section of the Bible)

On a test I once took, my "primary gift" came up as "pastoral," and my "motivational gift" as "prophetic."  I told the person who gave the test, "That's almost 'irreconcilable differences.'"  To which he replied, "I'll pray for you." 
And I knew why.  A problem with "prophetic" people is the tendency to criticalness, negativity, come off as mean-spirited, well, need I say more?  Okay, but once people work their way through such personality flaws, they also need to see and hear the word of the Lord in the "prophetic people."  Our text today is such a Word. 

I have lived through most of what has been called "The Charismatic Renewal."  My journey in the "renewal" began in 1964.  I saw the refreshing, innocent, though not naive "spirit" in most people and gatherings.  But as the years went by, two things became more and more apparent to me.  First, "the place of my fathers' tombs,' which I liken to the historic, orthodox, "faith of Jesus," substantiated by the great "Church Fathers" of the Church and the Creeds, was taken over by many who had no knowledge of Biblical Principles, no knowledge of Church History, in short, they were as our Lord Jesus says, "....they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves."  Second, eventually neophytes began to emerge and dominate in many circles, not only as "members" but also as "leaders."  The latter became responsible for what emerged in so many places, "lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire". 

So, I say with Nehemiah, "Why should my face not be sad," for such perversion.  Now, I would be more than glad to have a gathering with any and all who would like to discuss what to some might seem as an over-stated and know-it-all attitude on the contemporary Church.  Yet while I do not advocate inordinate introspection, I do advocate what Paul told the Corinthian Church, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves."  I read our text earlier today, then read a devotional of Oswald Chambers.  "....Your message as His servant is merciless insistence on the one line, cut down to the very root, otherwise there will be no healing.  Drive home the message until there is no possible refuge from its application.  Begin to get at people where they are until you get them to realize what they lack, and then erect the standard of Jesus Christ in their lives...."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I say with the hymn writer, "I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord....I love Thy Church, O God."  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

You Can Survive-- I guarantee It

"....I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.  And they said to me, 'The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach.  The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.'  So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven."  (Nehemiah 1:2b-4)

The Jews have been hearing such news for centuries.  They have had and have enemies many, and even "friends" have many times attempted to frustrate the purposes of God for the Jews.  Every American Administration, while being a friend to Israel since the establishment of the modern State of Israel, has also been one of the largest obstacles to the purposes of Jesus Christ for The Land (I can give so many examples).  It really goes without saying, however, that no nation has ever stopped the purposes of Jesus Christ.  All those who have tried throughout history are now history themselves; America cannot be far behind. 

Many Followers of Jesus have found themselves in such a state as described in our text, "survivors who are left...in great distress and reproach."  Life seems to be as Jerusalem in our text, "broken down, and its gates are burned with fire."  Yet today Jerusalem is a thriving metropolis, beautiful, expanding.  And I tell you with absolute certainty today, my friend, this is awaiting you.  It may not seem so now; you may be barely surviving, "in great distress and reproach.., broken down, and...burned with fire," but as my reading today in Malachi 4:2 declares, "But for you who honor me, goodness will shine on you like the sun, with healing in its rays.  You will jump around, like well-fed calves" (NCV).  Now, all humanity has a choice today, what and whom are we going to believe, circumstances? any present, "distress and reproach"? or, "You will jump around, like well-fed calves"?  Whatever we are going through, this day is assuredly coming for us. 

Do not succumb to, "Well, all that pie in the sky by and by may be alright for some, but I need help and deliverance now."  We do.  But the reason the Jews have survived as a People Group and have seen the restoration of their nation in these latter days is that through the centuries they did not allow, "distress and reproach," to defeat them.  They always have bounced back, kept fighting, kept the Passover, and have kept passing on from generation to generation the faithfulness of the Lord God, "So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is this?' that you shall say to him, 'By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."  And the Lord Jesus Christ has, "brought us out...of the house of bondage," and continues to do so to this very day.  As James 5:10 says, "My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience."  In it all, they proved to be, "more than conquerors."  

Father, in Jesus' Name, forgive me if I have ever demanded special treatment.  Amen.
**************
Be sure to check the articles on Romania and North Korea at:    jhs58.blogspot.com

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"Liberty"-- For What? To do What?

"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."  (Galations 5:13)

As this quarter comes to a close, I read this familiar passage.  Most people think of, "liberty," as a license to do anything, any time, as in "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."  The Bible says no to this interpretation.  "....Liberty [is] an opportunity [to] serve...."  I might say that then, and only then, will one find "life, liberty, and...happiness."

Most humans throughout history have used liberty only to serve themselves.  The kings of Europe and Czarist Russia might still have descendants as heads of state if they had just served others rather than themselves.  I could say the same about the Catholic Church.  But, alas, the leadership of the Church in the 14th to 16th centuries chose to be served rather than to serve.  Could they not have at least considered 10 of Luther's 95 Thesis ?!?

Jesus told the disciples that He was among them, "as one who serves."  Today's later New Testament reading had me in Revelation 14, "Then I looked, and be hold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown...."  Then I look in Luke 2 and see this same, "Son of Man," in an animal stall, a far cry from the golden palaces of ancient kings, "You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger," sort of like this one:

Yes, my friend, the scene may have looked very similar to this one. 

Yet from the Throne of the Universe, surrounded by cherubim and seraphim, the angelic hosts, safe from the very precarious fragility of earthly life, to the manger of Bethlehem He came, surrounded by lowly shepherds and animals, lying there that night just like this baby; "Only His great Eternal Love made my Savior go."

"Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I desire to more perfectly manifest the Babe of Bethlehem.  Amen.
********************
Briefing on recent mission, January 16th, 19:00.  Let us know if you will be attending. 
       

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"They...Forgot"

"The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.  They did not keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His law, and forgot His works and His wonders He had shown them."  (From today's Psalm reading, 78:9-11)

This is the end of all nations and individuals who are as, "the children of Ephraim."  No matter how charismatic the individual, no matter how powerful the "super power," when, "they [do] not keep the covenant of God," and, "refuse[] to walk in His law, and forg[e]t His works and His wonders He had shown them," there is absolutely no doubt their epitaph will be, "turned back in the day of battle."

The fall of the "American Empire" is accelerating at an ever increasing rate.  The most significant cultural change began in the early 1960s, sparked by the Super Power's outlawing of the Words of God and the Prayer of Jesus in its school system.  Regardless of the ever-present evil in any culture, even from inception, the United States of America was dominated by Christian Principles for nearly 200 years.  The 1960s witnessed an unparalleled break with the past, and I can tell you that the news report, which I have sent separately, is just another indication that the Anti-Christ spirit is growing in its influence and power.  Political correctness, which is just code for rejection of Jesus Christ, His Church and Kingdom Reign, will be at the center of America's downfall.  The accompanying article is just an example of what is coming to America, and no administration in our history has so facilitated the rapidity of Evil's progress as the current administration.

For those who may follow us on Facebook, I am trying to relate issues of prophetic importance without unnecessary editorializing that might give "opposition" excuse to not read what I post.  I'm attempting to be more as our Lord commanded, "wise as serpents and harmless as doves."  I am attempting to use whatever means our Lord Jesus Christ gives me to convey what prophetic insight He gives.  There is much in the so-called "left" and "right" which has nothing to do with the Reign of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.  I encourage all today to keep this in mind.  One of the reasons I quote Bonhoeffer so much is that I believe he was a twentieth century man who saw this.  We are not members of the Left or Right.  We are members of His Body, the Church.  This will increasingly be a difficult "membership."  

If you are a "New Year's Resolution" person, I encourage you to commit to reading through the entire Bible in the coming year.  If you are a "favorite portion," I encourage you to stop this selective obedience, which is really selective disobedience.  These are increasingly difficult days.  Some of the great personal trials which many of you are going through are personal manifestations of the cosmic struggle between the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness.  But we are, "more than conquerors through Him Who loved us," and still so very, very much loves us.  May it never, ever be said of you and me that we, "turned back in the day of battle.., did not keep the covenant of God;..refused to walk in His law, and forgot His works."  Rather, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me." 

Father, in Jesus' Name, only You and Your Words, in the power of the Holy Spirit can so keep me.  Amen.
*******************
Date of Mission Briefing:  January 16.  If you want more info, let us know.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2