New Testament

Encouragement and Rest – VOTD.04.30.18

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. Hebrews 4:11

Rest is the tangible expression of Jesus’s intangible presence in our lives. Being a storehouse of His encouragement is the definitive consequence of Jesus in our lives. It is from that storehouse that we share Jesus’ encouragement with the people and situations around us. So that instead of putting on a false cheer, we actually have a peace and encouragement that overcomes the discouragement (un-encouragement) in the world around us.

We’ve been talking for the past few weeks about being an encourager—which the Bible calls us to be. It’s part of walking in the fullness of all that is life in Jesus. It’s an important ingredient in abundant living. And for most of us it takes effort because this fight is not with a conventional enemy; it’s opposing the force of discouragement that hounds us from all directions.

This negative force shows up in our lives in all shapes and forms: Unconstructiveness, discouragement, and disapproval. So it’s a matter of the heart and from there comes our demeanor—our attitudes and the atmosphere around us. And our words—emotions and thoughts lead to words and actions. (more…)

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What does the Bible Mean? Encourage One Another (pt 4) – VOTD.04.24.18

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

Paul taught that we should be encouraging each other with the promise of Jesus’ return. Importantly, he didn’t suggest we encourage each other with theories and minute details or timetable of Jesus’ return. Just that He’s coming back and we’re going to be with Him forever. This is a comfort and encouragement to those who have lost loved ones as well as anyone who’s “getting up there in age”. It’s also encouraging perspective for those who are facing trials and disappointments.

Whether He returns in our lifetime or not, Jesus’ return is promised… it’s going to happen. Probably not the way we’re expecting (after all, Jesus’ first coming to earth was unlike what even the most learned of that day expected). But He’s coming back. This encourages us to keep going, to hope in times of tribulation, to run the race when perseverance is needed (Heb 12:1).

It also encourages us to be ready for Jesus who is coming back. I’m reminded of Jesus’ parable of the ten young ladies (Matt 25:1ff), five of whom were ready with an extra measure of oil and five who had either not expected so long a wait or had not cared whether they had their lamps burning at all.

We will be caught up to be with him, or, if we die before he comes, we will be raised up from the dead to meet him in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. If we had even an inkling of what that means (and the Bible gives us more than an inkling), we’d be totally encouraged.

At different times in Christian history there has been a lot of focus on the teaching of the Jesus’ return. Sometimes the teachings have been taken to excess. Others have taught conjecture as fact. Despite Jesus’ clearly words that no one will know the exact time and date of His return (Acts 1:7) it is not uncommon for some teachers to actually give dates and times. (more…)

Continue ReadingWhat does the Bible Mean? Encourage One Another (pt 4) – VOTD.04.24.18

What does the Bible Mean? Encourage One Another (pt 3) – VOTD.04.23.18

For you know that we affectionally treated each of you like a loving father cares for his own children: We encouraged you by comforting and challenging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12

What did Paul mean when he said, “Encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thes 5:1)? We’ve been looking at the context of this well-known verse and found three things so far:

1. Encouragement is based, first of all, on Jesus and the good news of knowing Him.
2. Encouragement begins by identifying the work of God in one another’s lives.
3. Encouragement begins by being genuine—looking for how God is working in someone’s life and pointing it out.

So now we come to the next way Paul speaks of encouraging each other.

4. Encouragement begins by encouraging one another to walk in a manner worthy of God. What is a life worthy of God? One of the conversations we need to have with one another is to encourage each another to do what Jesus did in every situation: He did what He saw His Father doing and spoke what He heard His Father saying.

God calls us to make progress… to “grow and increase in God’s grace and intimacy with our Lord” (2 Pet 3;18). If that’s not happening, then we’ll only find thrills, passion and amusement in things outside of Jesus. And our weakness when it comes to sin will continue unabated.

The problem with finding our passions outside of Jesus is that it will be counterfeit; it won’t sustain us when the chips are down. God-given joy sustains, amusement does not. I met a woman the other day whose passion is roller coasters. She travels all over the world visiting amusement parks and riding on their roller coasters. (more…)

Continue ReadingWhat does the Bible Mean? Encourage One Another (pt 3) – VOTD.04.23.18

What does the Bible Mean? Encourage One Another (pt 2) – VOTD.04.17.18

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5-6

When we think of God’s and holiness (His perfection and sinlessness), we can find it hard to believe that God would have anything to say to us but criticism and scolding. But as we saw last time, God is the God of encouragement. When Jesus promised that He would send another comforter, the Holy Spirit, the word he used was someone who comes alongside of us– an encourager.

And the God of encouragement wants to use each of us as His representatives of encouragement to those we come in contact with…to be in each other’s lives, to strengthen one another to keep going, keep believing, keep depending on Jesus, to finish the course God has set before us, to live out His plan for our lives.

So, how do we encourage one another? How do we make encouragement happen? What do we say? There are 3 building blocks about encouraging we can learn from Paul in the context of “Encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thes 5:1).

1. All our encouragement is built on one unshakable foundation: Jesus rescued us (vv 9-11). Our encouragement can never be separated from Jesus, because if it weren’t for Jesus, our lives would be nothing but a collision course. If death just means ‘The End’ as secularism teaches—if death meant that God’s wrath was what awaits us as religion teaches— then any encouragement would be meaningless platitudes with no real power behind it.

Paul says, “THEREFORE encourage each other” because God has not destined us for ‘The End’ and he hasn’t saved us just to face His future wrath. He saved us to go to the place Jesus has prepared for us, where we’ll be with Him for all eternity (Jn 14:1-4). There is no greater encouragement possible. Encouragement is built on this Good News foundation.  (more…)

Continue ReadingWhat does the Bible Mean? Encourage One Another (pt 2) – VOTD.04.17.18

What does the Bible Mean? Encourage One Another (pt 1) – VOTD.04.16.18

Encourage the hearts of your fellow believers and support one another, just as you have already been doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

If we’re going to understand what the Bible means when it tells us to encourage each other, it would be good to do away with a few wrong ideas first. Too often in Christian circles “encouragement” is misused to the point that it isn’t even trusted. So, first of all, it doesn’t mean that we are to flatter one another or speak untruthfully.

Flattery is excessive or insincere praise. Often, flattery is saying nice things to people in order to get something from them. Flattery might look like encouragement but it isn’t. We need to learn to encourage without falling into the trap of praising people in order to win their approval or control their decisions or their lives, or to make them like us, or to manipulate them to do things we want them to do. So encouraging one another doesn’t mean flattering one another.

Likewise encouragement doesn’t mean quoting motivational platitudes to one another. There’s a billion dollar industry producing motivational products. But if a pretty poster with a cute saying is all it took to encourage one another then we’d be pretty shallow people. Biblical encouragement is much deeper and much stronger (and much more honest) than that.

So what is biblical encouragement? There are two Greek words used in today’s verse for encouragement. The first (parakaleo) means to call from alongside. The second (paramutheomai) means to give counsel from alongside. Notice that encouragement has this sense of coming along side of…it means coming close to someone’s life, their struggles, their story. Encouragement isn’t distant, it’s close: it’s the voice that says, I relate, I understand, I care. So encouragement has different voices because what people will need to hear is different in different seasons and different situations. (more…)

Continue ReadingWhat does the Bible Mean? Encourage One Another (pt 1) – VOTD.04.16.18

Affirming One Another – VOTD.04.10.18

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Last time we looked at how to affirm ourselves in the promises of God. Today I want to look at affirming others. One of the unique things about today’s verse is that Paul actually demonstrates affirming the people of Thessalonica in his admonition to encourage and build one another up when he says, “just as you are doing”.

A lot of times, we don’t focus much energy on actively encouraging others and building them up… Especially if those people seem to be doing OK.  It’s a lot easier to be encouraging when people are down…then it’s a “ministry opportunity”, right? And besides, we feel their pain, ourselves… when we know they are walking through difficult times. So we react to needs around us. Paul’s saying, “Encourage the hearts of your fellow believers and support one another,” even when they appear to be doing just fine.

Paul even tells his readers why this is important: it’s because we share in Jesus’ resurrection life and this is part of what being in union with Him is all about (v. 10). And by extension, because we are children of the light, not the darkness (v. 5). Believers who are living in resurrection aren’t discouragers, fault-finders, holier-than-thou, step on others to get to the top. No, we love as Jesus loves. And part of the expression of His love is encouraging, affirming, building up.

People living in resurrection life will increasingly become encouragers. They will increasingly see others through Jesus’ eyes. So how can we build one another up?

As we saw last time, most of the time, we don’t see the good qualities in ourselves. Others can see them in us, and if they don’t tell us what they see, we may never know. We need to affirm what God has given to each one of us. We are inspired and encouraged through affirmations. (more…)

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Affirming: Seeing and Saying – VOTD.04.03.18

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Last time we looked at 2 ways we can affirm the people around us. 1) listen to them. 2) Use positive words. There’s power of our words. And if we’re believers, that power is for good: If people make any effort, commend them on that. If they make any effort to being more responsible, more productive, whatever… when we see something good in their life, compliment it and that area will grow. What we compliment tends to grow.

We left one more way we affirm the people around us: 3) Pray for them. Paul writes, “You are helping us by praying for us” (2 Cor 1:11). Pray for them and see what happens. And tell them we’re praying for them. We can even ask them, “What do you want me to pray about?” When this is done in the right attitude (not holier than thou), even unbelievers may respond positively. Whenever we pray for someone else, we’re building a bridge on which we can minister to people.

And while you and I are praying, maybe we should take time to pray that God would enable each of us to be more affirming of the people around us. Because for many of us, it’s going to take a heart change to become affirmers. And the Holy Spirit is the one who Changes hearts.

Most of us want to be affirming, but don’t even know where to get started. Here are a few suggestions to jump-start our thoughts about how we can be affirming that I pulled off the internet:

1.      Take time to affirm someone you know who is doing something risky yet right.
2.      Next time a friend’s birthday reminder pops up on social media, instead of just writing “Happy Birthday”, add a few words of affirmation highlighting a Christ-like quality you see in that person.
3.      Positively compare someone you know to a Bible hero or point out an example of them constructively using their spiritual gift.
4.      Commend a parent you know or see. “What a beautiful family” goes a long way in a checkout line and can be a good conversation starter.
5.      Affirm people you know who solve problems without waiting to be asked, commending their initiative.
6.      Rather than sending a card written by someone who works for Hallmark, spend some time studying the phrasing in the cards in the card section, and then take time to deliberately compose your own card.
7.      Next time an error of yours is brought to your attention, not only own it, but affirm the person who brought it to you for their alertness in catching it.
8.      When someone passes along a good idea, or helps you change your mind about an issue, affirm their taking the time to set you straight.
9.      Affirm the flexibility you see in others when they readily adjust plans to accommodate a need.
10.     In conversation, ask people to tell you about the nicest compliments they ever received. See if you can learn from their experiences and implement ideas on your own. (more…)

Continue ReadingAffirming: Seeing and Saying – VOTD.04.03.18

Affirming People – VOTD.04.02.18

Encourage each other and build each other up. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

We live in a very pretty negative culture—in a society where put downs are the number one form of humor. People are marginalized, ostracized, and criticized in an attitude of elitism, where exclusiveness and snobbery seem like the only way to not get swept down the disapproval drain. And it happens in the world, it happens in our churches, it happens in our homes.

God calls us to do the exact opposite. He says, as believers, we are to value everybody. When we look around at people—even people who are insulting us and putting us down, denigrating values we hold dear—we must keep focused on the truth that Jesus died for them. They matter greatly to God.

And while this is true of our attitudes toward the obviously disenfranchised, the needy…those on the outside, it’s also true of those we interact with on a daily basis. We all need affirmation and encouragement.

Call it appreciation, affirmation, when we encourage others and build them up, we raise their value. We treat them as if they matter. We say nice things about them—both in their hearing and out of their hearing. So how can you and I affirm people? (more…)

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The Power of the Resurrection – VOTD.03.27.18

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? John 11:23-26

Today’s verses expose a common limitation that we find even today about the resurrection of Jesus. When He said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” Martha immediately concluded that He was talking about heaven some day. And it wasn’t that she was wrong, but Jesus wanted to expand her understanding.

The Power of Jesus’ Resurrection is at work today: The Power of the Resurrection that is just as powerful now, as it was then, and when it will be through eternity. Yes, it’s what makes us Christians today. It’s the only reason that we can be Christians.

Power of the Resurrection is the SALVATION of Jesus.
· It’s the Power of the Resurrection that gives us Faith to call upon the name of Jesus.
· It’s the Power of the Resurrection that gives you and me the power to draw others into God’s Kingdom.

But what the Resurrection has given you and me is more than Salvation, as wonderful as that is. It’s more than the Saints being raised up in a cloud with Believers when the last trumpet sounds. The Power of the Resurrection isn’t a “thing” or a “force”. The power of Jesus’ resurrection is Love, Hope, Joy, Peace, Victory, and Freedom: (more…)

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Waiting on God’s Promises pt 4 – VOTD.03.26.18

So, my very dear brothers and sisters, don’t get thrown off course. Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, and comes down from the Heavenly Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:16-17

It would be appropriate to say, every ‘promise’ God freely gives us is a gift, and as a gift from God, it is good and perfect, just like He is. Last time we began looking at what we can do while we’re waiting on God to fulfill His promises to us. How can we partner with Jesus in responding to His promises as we wait for their fulfillment?

First of all, (and we talked about this last time) we are rejoicing while we wait. We’re not rejoicing about our waiting. We’re rejoicing in Jesus who is with us as we wait because our capacity for His presence is expanded as we visualize the mystery and wonder of who He is.

Secondly, we are patient while we wait. Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. We can be patient because we trust the One who has made the promises. Patience goes against our human nature—but it is so much a part of God’s nature—it’s the way Jesus is.

So as we wait, we work with God as He develops His own nature in us, so we become more like Him; including patience. It is not enough to just ACT patient; we must actually BE patient.

But often, when the waiting gets long, Holy Spirit’s fruit of patience deteriorates into passivity, which isn’t a good way to wait for God’s promises. We need to wait actively. Waiting on the Lord isn’t passive, it’s active. Passivity encourages us to “just get through it”. It is what leads so many Christians to accept something less than the promise of God just to arrive at a solution.

Passivity leads to pragmatism. If we’re waiting for the Lord to fulfill His promises in passivity instead of patience, we’ll often just settle for anything that works…anything that ends the waiting. (Remember Sarah giving Abraham her maid to produce God’s promised child? (Gen 21) Same idea.) We’ll settle for something lesser and miss the real promise that God will produce: “Christ in us, the hope of glory”, not just rescue us from our current dilemmas (Col 1:27). (more…)

Continue ReadingWaiting on God’s Promises pt 4 – VOTD.03.26.18