Teaching by: Pastor Jeff
YouTube Lesson: https://youtu.be/eBIHQezU9nw
No matter who you are, all of us are holding on to a shiny worldly object - sin. These things are pleasurable for a time. But they also divide us from Jesus and from our Heavenly Father.
We have these things in our life. Here are a few reasons to consider:
First, we are being refined, and these choices are part of going through the fire.
Second, if we never failed there would be no gap to cover, and we all need Christ Jesus to cover the gap and get us to the other side.
Third, realizing how profoundly short we fall gives us perspective that humbles us.
Shiny Worldly Objects
The book "Where the Red Fern Grows," by Wilson Rawls (1961), is required reading for many in 6th grade. Click the title above for a summary of the plot if you haven't read it. In this book, the main character Billy saves for 2 years to earn $50 to buy two hounds for 'coon hunting. Without these dogs he doesn't know what to do.
Part of Alexis Muhlenkanp's summary in the link to the book above reads: "The most substantial lesson I received from that story is the fact that sometimes you have to let go of something that seems great but in reality is what is causing my pain. This is shown in the story when, in order to train his new pups, Billy needs to get a coon skin for them to chase. He doesn’t know how to get a coon skin without trained hounds to track it, but luckily his grandfather came up with a solution. Billy’s grandfather remembered a trap that can be used to catch coons without using dogs. the idea behind the trap is that you drill a hole in a log and drop a small shiny object in the hole, then you drive nails into the shaft. The raccoon will see the shiny object at the bottom and want it, so they reach into the hole and grab it, but once they grab it they can’t pull their hand out because the of the nails that make the hole too small for their closed fist to get back through."
The Liquidambar Tree Seed Pod
These objects might look shiny, but if they are in your hand they feel more like the liquidambar tree seed pod. When you squeeze them, they hurt you.
Devotional Reading from "Jesus Always" by Sarah Young.
January 9th:
I am your Treasure! Sometimes you feel frazzled - pulled this way and that by people and circumstances around you. Your yearning for meaning and deep connection drives you into more and more activity. Even when your body is still, your mind tends to race - andicipating future problems and searching for solutions. You need to remember that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Me. Remind yourself of this glorious truth frequently, whispering: "Jesus, You are my Treasure. In You I am complete."
When you prize Me above all else, making Me your First Love, you are protected from feeling fragmented. Whenever you find your thoughts straying, you can train your mind to return to the One who completes you. This gives focus to your life and helps you stay close to Me. Living near Me, enjoying My Presence, involves seeking to obey My commands. I am telling you this so that My Joy may be in you and that your Joy may be complete.
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
10 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.11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Relationships
With God
Our most important relationship in this life is with Jesus. This is because the only way to the Father is through Him! John 14:6
With Ourselves
Our closest human relationship in this life is with ourselves. Things like accountability, discipline, and hard work are all important. I teach this to my daughter using the “Three Things,” which are trust, accountability, and freedom. If you can’t be trusted to be accountable with responsibility, then you won’t enjoy the freedoms the responsibilities afford. Moreover, this relationship with ourselves must stand on the foundation with our Lord Jesus. The more it does, the healthier our “relationship with the self” will be. Galatians 1:6 – 2:10
With Our Spouse
If we choose to, and Jesus blesses us with a spouse, this is our next closest relationship in this life. However, Paul does teach us that not being married is a good thing in 1 Corinthians 7:8 If you aren’t married to a person, a way to think about this could be to consider yourself married to God until He blesses you with a marriage to another person. No doubt about it, marriage is hard work, and requires effort, focus, and work. It stands on the personal accountability of the “Three Things,” which in turn is founded on our relationship with Jesus. This is because we need to reflect the Grace and Mercy of God to each other. Three interesting points about marriage:
First, it is primarily about friendship with one another.
Second, your spouse is the only God sanctioned person on this Earth with whom you can experience all of the types of Love provided by God.
Third, marriage is a Holy reflection of the Holy Trinity, because it is the melding of two into one with the Holy Spirit.
With Family & Friends
Our next closest relationship in this life is our family and friends. The varying degrees of closeness allow us to experience most of the types of love provided by God. Lots could be said about these relationships, from honoring your mother and father (Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:2), to siblings (Jacob and Esau / Joseph and his brothers / Jesus brother James), to many other types and complex family relationships.
With the Masses & Enemies
Beyond this scope are the masses of acquaintances and strangers. Experiencing love in these interactions is key to the Great Commission, and our evangelism of the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Matthew 28:16-20 It can also be one of the most difficult spheres of influence on the average, because this group might include our enemies, whom Jesus told us to “love.” Matthew 5:44
Types of Love
Agape Love
I've heard this called the unconditional "God" love. And while that may be true, I think of this as "behavorial love." God is faithful to His relationship with us. That doesn't mean we don't hurt Him, or that He isn't just in judging us for our crimes. This is something I struggle with personally, because I know to some degree the depths of my own depravity. I know how I choose to behave. And I know that my behavior often chooses sin. These sins hurt God. They don't show Him love (John 14:15).
Think of this as a contract that God the Father has with each one of us, because that is what it is. No person lives in the perfection of Christ Jesus, all have fallen short. Jesus explained how God allows the sun to rise on the good and the bad, and the rain to fall in the fields of the just and the unjust. (Matthew 5:45). Because the Father wants reconcilliation with each and every one of us, He is true to His covenant knowing that all of us will fail, break the covenant, and sin. So as pointed out, that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23) we all deserve eternal damnation (Romans 6:23). While living as "good people" in our own eyes the filth of it is dirty menstral rags (Isaiah 64:6). So, the Father is faithfully long suffering (Numbers 14:18, 2 Peter 3:9) and stores up His wrath (Romans 2:5).
This behavior of long suffering and storing up wrath is half of the divine Agape Love of God, and shows His mercy. The other half is His Grace, which He demonstrates through the gift of salvation we receive when we accept Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The mercy from His wrath combined with the grace of His salvation perfectly demonstrate true and divine Agape Love.
I've heard it said that only God is capable of Agape Love. This is true in terms of a perfect demonstration of Agape Love, but it doesn't mean we are off the hook. Each of us should be seeking to operate in Agape Love. This is a form of love that can be woven in to all of our relationships from the start. This is what Jesus demonstrated, and so should it be for us, amen!
Philia
Friend bond. Paul refers to himself as a "bond servant of Christ," but this is a bond of love. Of duty to Jesus who, as a friend, came as the Good Shephard and saved Paul. Jesus did this for each of us too. As we seek to act in love with each other, the edification and and development of one another allows this type of love to act.
Eros
Romantic love. Hallmark love. Valentines Day love. It's not a bad love, but it is misused by the world. If we un-flatten this emotion into it's fullness that is created by the Lord, we first see how it is directly applicable to a significant other. But going further we can understand how what is often sexualized is a type of love that in actuality defines the setting appart. The separation from the world. The segregation from others. A romantic love that can be felt for Jesus, who He is and how He loves.
Storge
Empathy bond. A wonderful example is the sinful woman who loved much and was forgiven by Jesus. Read Luke 7:36-50.
Returning to Our First Love
Jesus died for you while you were still a sinner. He loved you first!
Then He found you,. you received Him, and you loved Him.
To the Church in Ephesus
2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
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