Acceptance. Whether you’re a teenager in Jr. High or moving into a new neighborhood, you want acceptance.
Do you ever feel distant from God? Does the shame and guilt of sin ever make you feel this distance? As if God doesn’t accept you any longer? What do we do as Christians when we sin?
In the apostle John’s first letter, he told his hearers that they could know and experience God’s love and acceptance as those who were in the “fellowship” of the Father and Son and with one another. We can know and experience the love and acceptance of God in our lives. The text gives three ways.
Do you have proof that you are a citizen of heaven? Do you have confidence that you are a citizen of God’s Kingdom? Many struggle with doubts in this area.
In the apostle John’s first letter, he told his hearers that they could have “confidence” that they were members of God’s eternal Kingdom by receiving and believing in His Son, Jesus. We can know this confidence that comes from receiving and believing in Christ as our Savior. The text gives four steps to having confidence and assurance of your salvation.
How do we get our focus back and sustain it? One way is by becoming an active contributor to God’s Kingdom. We follow King Jesus and pour out our lives like Him. Jesus was a giver. He was committed to making a complete contribution of all that he had and all that he was. We can make becoming like Him our “One Thing.”
In the book of Matthew, the mother of James and John asked Jesus for seats of authority for her sons on either side of Jesus. Jesus told her and all the disciples that following Him was not a call to be great in the way the world sees things. He said that the greatness they were called to was called servanthood. He told them to follow His example of service by being willing to contribute all that they had in serving God.
Many of you have made a commitment to Christ. You’ve surrendered your life to Him as Savior and Lord. But you’ve lost focus. You started out focused on Christ, but He is no longer the organizing principle of your life. He isn’t the focus.
Perhaps we’ve made following Christ too complicated. We’ve forgotten that following Christ means we have to hang out with the other disciples.
Can you hear Peter saying? “Sure Jesus, I’ll follow you, but do I have to hang out with Judas over there?”
No, following Christ, we become one of His disciples together. Connecting together as we follow Christ has a sharpening effect. It sharpens our focus on Christ.
As Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
In the book of Romans the apostle Paul told the Roman Christians that even though they had followed Christ by an individual decision they must recognize that in following Him they had become one body, connected to other believers. When we follow Christ we make must make an individual decision to follow, but that leads to a corporate identity. We become the body of Christ connected to every other believer.
Did you know that God cares about what you celebrate? I think it’s because we celebrate what we truly love. And God cares about that.
In the book of Philippians, the apostle Paul said that he had put following Christ first. Paul didn’t say, “These 100 things I dabble in.” No, he said, “This one thing I do.” We can make following Christ our first thing. The text gives three rocks we can put into our lives in order to make following Christ our “one thing.”
Is God good? Many of us have no doubt that God is real. But is He Good? Does He really have your best interest in mind?
At the end of the TV show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, they park a big bus in front of the new house and have the family standing there in anticipation to see what their new home looks like. They are encouraged to shout, “Move that bus!” The family is always overwhelmed when they see the beauty and blessing of their new home.
How can we experience the beauty and blessing of a godly family? Is there a way to pass on a godly legacy?
In the book of 1 Thessalonians, the apostle Paul told them that he had treated them like a mother and a father as he shared the gospel and his life with them. He was thankful that they had believed and he challenged them to be witnesses and to be his “glory and joy” (1 Thess. 2:20). In other words, Paul said you are my spiritual legacy. We can learn from Paul’s example to leave a Godly legacy to our family.
In the TV show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, after they show us how bad the family’s living conditions are, they interview the family to discover what they love and design a house that expresses their passion, then they start building the house, being careful to make a room for every member of the family.
Sometimes, in the church, we don’t do a very good job of “making room” for every member of God’s family. Singles often feel left out. It reminds me of the old country song: “Sleepin single in a double bed.” We often make singles feel as if they’re living single in a couple’s world.
But the truth is there is nothing “odd” about being single. Elijah, John the Baptist, Paul, and Jesus lived as singles. We all begin life single and many of us will experience singleness again later in life.
Is it possible to live life as a fulfilled single? I believe that God’s Word offers the help that we need for living a fulfilled life and responding to life’s problems. In his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul gave some very specific instructions for singles and how they could live a fulfilled life by being devoted to God. We can follow God’s instructions for fulfillment by our undivided devotion to the Lord.
The apostle Paul told the Ephesians that they could turn conflict into communication and understanding through the power of Christ’s forgiveness and love. We can resolve the conflicts in our relationships and turn them into quality communication and understanding through Christ’s power of love and forgiveness.