The Pastor’s Pen

I wish to encourage you to enjoy the friendship of Christ. While it’s true that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16), and that the Lord “is patient …not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), this does not mean that friendship exists between God and the unbelieving world. Friendship with God is more than pleasant emotions or sentiments; it’s more than believing that God exists and that He leaves you alone to do whatever you want. James explains the relationship between the world and God; “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). Passive association with God while remaining loyal to the world and participating in its sinful values and lifestyle, is not friendship with God.

The important issue is, “does God think of me as His friend”?

The Psalmist understood that, “The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him” (Psalms 25:14). Jesus built upon this by teaching His disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14).

Jesus, being creator God (Hebrews 1:10), was entitled to call His disciples slaves. Yet, He opens His heart to these ordinary men by identifying them as His friends. He reminds them that they “did not choose” Him, but He chose them (John 15:16), and that “already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Only hours before His crucifixion, Jesus defines the nature of His relationship with His disciples; “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love” (John 15:9). “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

The friendship of God that we enter into through faith in Jesus Christ is cleansing because of His Word, its secure because of His trustworthy sovereignty, it’s intimate because the Father’s love for His Son is passed on to us. The friendship of Jesus Christ is initiated by Him, it’s made possible through Him laying down His life on the cross of Calvary for our redemption (Colossians 1:4). We rejoice because Christ “became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31). In this unimaginable friendship, Jesus says, you “abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4).

Indeed, we are privileged beyond human imagination, expectation, or design. Therefore, we boast of Christ! He has  achieved everything we could not. He maintains everything we cannot. He determines everything we are powerless to control. He strengthens and secures everything we weaken. He establishes everything we have yet to experience. He manifests the Father’s love in us even while we struggle with our unloveliness, vulnerabilities, and failings.  He also assures us with the certain hope of eternal life in His presence. Yes, we richly abide in Christ.

I encourage you to allow the Holy Spirit to envelope your soul with the joy of this divine friendship. Praise the Lord continuously today because of the breath-taking beauties of this heavenly friendship. Find someone you can uplift with the wonder and grace of this merciful friendship. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).

I wish to encourage you to walk in sync with the Holy Spirit. One of the most staggering and humbling privileges enjoyed by Christians is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit introduces His ministry to the unbelieving world by convicting them of sin, righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:8), making them aware that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Therefore, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all” (John 6:63). The instant an unbeliever repentantly believes in Christ for salvation, they are permanently sealed by the Holy Spirit as children of God, eternally secure in Christ (Acts 2:38; Ephesians 1:13-14). At that very moment, the Holy Spirit enters, baptising them into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). He then transitions His ministry to glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ and growing them into greater Christ likeness (Acts 1:5; 2:4; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 2:22).

As Christians, self-ownership has been relinquished, “for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Therefore, we “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). We’ve been purchased by God through Christ’s substitutional death for God’s purpose of glorification; “or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The Holy Spirit regenerates a whole new life with God given, Christ centred qualities. Consequently, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5) bringing “the fruit of the Spirit (which is) is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23; Acts 9:31; Romans 15:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:6).

The apostle Paul, wanting believers to know the essentials of how they could live under the Holy Spirit’s control, reminded the Galatians that the sinful “desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other” (Galatians 5:16-18). The indwelling Holy Spirit is not compatible with sin! He does not approve of sin, nor does He actively accommodate sin. Instead of sin controlling us, we are to “be filled (controlled) with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). In living “by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25), this begins with salvations repentant attitude leading away from sin. We do this through reading and thinking upon God’s Word, which the Holy Spirit authored (2 Peter 1:20-21). He transforms our thinking, our beliefs, and our behaviour, directly from His biblical truth.

We are also to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests,” employing our minds with intelligible words, our heart’s affections, and our creativity (Ephesians 6:18 NIV; Romans 8:26). Even though the Holy Spirit is fully God (2 Corinthians 3:18b), He never seeks to promote, elevate, or bring glory to Himself. Rather, He always seeks to glorify Jesus Christ (John 16:14). Just as He points to Christ in everything, so we, by His enabling power, are to duplicate that same attitude. We manifest the Holy Spirit’s control by being Christ centred, having a Christ exalting attitude in everything we do, by praying in the name of Jesus Christ as if on His behalf for the best expressions of Christ’s character and glory.

Today, let’s exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s speak well of the Saviour, and let’s love Christ with our obedience. In doing so, we shall evidence the filling, the leading, and the synchronised purpose of the Holy Spirit.

I wish to encourage you in God’s grace. In this self-righteous world, grace is given little consideration. Why? Because the world thinks it deserves every nice and good thing it gets. Self-righteousness blinds us to our need of grace. In its simplest form, grace speaks of undeserved kindness. It is the expression of God’s mercy as He interacts with mankind. It’s the motivating strength energising Christians to obedience of Christ. It always works powerfully to accomplish God’s will and purposes, even though we often fail to see or understand them (Ephesians 1:7-10). God’s grace cannot be outdone, for “where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Romans 5:20), showing His tenacity in expressing love where love is not wanted.

Grace is God’s underserved loving mercy which motivated Him to speak “to us by his Son” Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:2). Christ brought salvation to this world, and into our lives. We “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). God never looked at this sinful world and felt overwhelmed by the world’s worthiness of salvation. No, gracious love, holy justice, and unequalled mercy, motivated Him to send His Son “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Consequently, the first priority of grace is to introduce the sinner to their Saviour, Jesus Christ, drawing them to repentance of their sin and to surrender under the Lordship of Christ (Romans 10:9-10).

Concluding his letter to Titus, the apostle Paul summarises the truths Titus was to teach, encourage and correct the church with. Every facet of spiritual living flows out from these truths; “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:11-14).

Having redeemed the penitent sinner from all wickedness, having inputted Christ’s righteousness, having indwelt the new born saint with the Holy Spirit, they are pure and acceptable in God’s sight. Now, “ if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The regenerated sinner no longer looks like the world. Rather, they look like Christ, although dimly at first, the Holy Spirit works sanctification enabling them to be “transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

God’s grace continues with persevering and purifying purpose, steering the believer away from ungodly and worldly passions (ongoing repentance). Those desires which do not reflect the character of God, those passions with no boundaries, those unrighteous attitudes, thoughts and words which express worldly values, they must die under grace. In Christ, grace replaces our old way of thinking with the Lord’s new nature and values, new motives with new attitudes. Grace inspires the believer to “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).

I pray that today, in our lives “as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15).

I wish to encourage you to walk in the joy of Christ. New Testament joy speaks of cheerfulness, calm delight and gladness. For the Christian, joy is both an unavoidable result of salvation, while also being a discipline of daily walking with the Lord. The writer of Hebrews focuses our attention on the author and example of joy, writing; Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2 NIV).

Solomon realised that a glad heart makes a cheerful face… (Proverbs 15:13). Genuine joy in the Lord Jesus Christ migrates from the heart to the face, and the world will see it. After all, we were dead in our trespasses, yet God made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:5). Although we were once separated from Christ, alienated… strangers… having no hope and without God… But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:12-13). As born-again believers in Jesus Christ as Lord, we have many present and eternal reasons for joy because it is the Lord who has made …known to me (us) the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalms 16:11).

Joy in Christ is not based upon the temporary experiences of life. Experiences are the wrong foundation for faith, that’s why some seem to fall away from Jesus as soon as trials come along (Matthew 13:20-21). No, our joy grows out of deep belief, repentant dependence upon Christ, from our surrenderedness in obedience to Jesus’ Lordship, upon our submission to the authority of God’s written Word, the Bible. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).

In fact, our joy is the working of the indwelling Holy Spirit. As He controls us we manifest the fruit of the Spirit (which) is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The apostle Paul instructed the Ephesians to …be filled (controlled) with the Spirit, resulting with believers communicating with …one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:18-21).

As believers, our joy is in reality the Lord’s joy. His Holy Spirit generates the joy, the Word of God fuels the joy, and our surrenderedness expresses our faith that works in synchronism with the will of God to accomplish all this in His name and for His glory.

Unfortunately, we’re able to interrupt the joy of the Lord by resisting His sanctify work, by superimposing our wills, our desires, our expectations, and our methods of dealing with life; we usurp His authority with our reasoning. Nothing is more effective at this than simply refusing to change while expecting others the change.

Today, I encourage you to surrender, to love, and to forgive as you have been forgiven. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. God will be glorified, the Body of Christ will be built up, unbelievers will witness the power of the gospel, and you will experience the Joy of the Lord.

I wish to encourage you to be consistent in Christ

Scripture unequivocally teaches God as unchangeable (Job 23:13), however, we struggle in a world of constant change. We experience the tensions of life’s variableness, plus, our stress is exacerbated by personal inconsistencies. We can so easily, and unwittingly, allow the tsunamis of life to wash us backwards spiritually. Consequentially, we feel disempowered and easily forget our calling to put off (the) old self, which belongs to your former manner of life… to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).

God never intends for us to wallow in the defeat of failure. But he gives more grace… “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you (James 4:6-10). Rather than being over-whelmed by the nightmare, we are to bring whatever it is to God. It may be sin, some weakness, some unjustified attack from another, health struggles, the loss of a loved one, isolation from the body of Christ, unwillingness to serve within the body of Christ, or possibly spiritual laziness which has grown to back-sliding. Whatever it is, we are to bring the grief of it all to God’s intended conclusion in humility. He then mercifully lifts us out of it. Sometimes He does this quickly, while other times slowly and progressively, but it is He who empowers us to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer (Romans 12:12).

Our spiritual consistency is all about Christ, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us (Romans 8:34). He is relentlessly and consistently doing what we cannot do, maintaining our secure position before the Father without even a moment of rest. Christ is the source, He is the fore-runner, He is the example we look to.

The Lord shows us many ways in His Word by which we can develop daily disciplines that fuel faithful consistency in Christ. Paul exhorted the floundering Corinthian believers to …be steadfast, immovable, always abounding (in excess of quantity or quality) in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). As we serve the Lord, His limitless resources are released progressively through us in accordance with His will, to ensure faithful perseverance.

As born again believers in Christ, our repentance is an ongoing state of heart, while our submission to the Lordship of Christ is expressive of our faith. Therefore, like the apostle Paul, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

• Paul instructed Timothy to …always be sober-minded… (2 Timothy 4:5).
• Solomon instructed; Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it (Proverbs 8:33).
• Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… (Colossians 3:16).
• pray without ceasing… (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
• Do not neglect the gift you have (1 Timothy 4:14).
• Do not neglect to show hospitality… (Hebrews 13:2).
• Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have… (Hebrews 13:16).
• …not neglecting to meet together… (Hebrews 10:25).
• giving thanks always and for everything to God… (Ephesians 5:20).

Today, let’s be consistent in Christ for His glory and the encouragement of others!