Category: Hope

Everyone needs John 3:16

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Every Christ-centered church supports missions. When I speak of missions I am referring to “the sending of authorized believers to people of non-faith or other-faiths for the purpose of making disciples of Jesus Christ.” Why does a local church have missions? Let’s look at John 3:16. This is one of the most familiar verses in all the Bible. It has been used by God to lead millions of people to Christ. It has sparked revivals around the world.

This verse falls in the middle of a conversation between Jesus and a religious ruler named Nicodemus. Nicodemus thinks the way to heaven is by living a good life. But Jesus confronts him with the truth that he must be born again by believing in Christ alone for eternal life (John 3:1-15). It’s not what you do that gets you to heaven, it’s what Christ has already done for you on the cross and simply trusting Him to get you to heaven. Jesus explains further. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

Why does everyone need John 3:16?

BECAUSE GOD LOVED EVERYONE. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world…” The first two words, “For God,” refer to the Creator of the heavens and earth (Genesis 1:1), the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 1:8, 17; 22:13), the Great I Am (Exodus 3:14), the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 3:6).

“For God so loved the world.” No one has ever loved to the degree that God has loved. Look at the extent of His love. He loved “the world.” He did not limit His love to one country, culture or color. His love extends beyond Filipinos to Americans… Africans… Australians… Chinese… Russians… Europeans…  Brazilians.

God loved everyone. Red and yellow, black and white, we are all precious in His sight! No one can love like God loves. His love is unlimited. His love is no respecter or rejecter of persons. He loves black skin as much as white skin… tattooed skin as much as freckled skin… shaven as much as bearded… long hair as much as no hair… poor as much as rich… boxing fans as much as basketball fans… Rap music fans as much as ballroom dancing fans.

This first phrase, “For God so loved the world…” has motivated people to leave their families and their homes to share God’s love on the other side of the world. Why? Because God loves everyone. His love cannot be earned. God loves us now, not when we get better. He loves us regardless of what we’ve done or not done. Do you realize that nothing you do can make God love you any less? He loves us even when we offend Him. God has designed us to be loved by Him. Only His love can meet our deepest needs. Unfortunately, we often look in the wrong places for this love, don’t we? We look for it in our occupation, paycheck,  in athletics, a bottle of booze or a dose of drugs, or in a brief romantic relationship. God’s love isn’t found in these things. His love is found in the Person of Jesus Christ.

The second reason why everyone needs John 3:16 is BECAUSE GOD GAVE HIS PERFECT SON FOR EVERYONE. Jesus said, “that He gave His only begotten Son.” God’s love gives. It doesn’t take. It gives sacrificially. What did He give? He gave what was most precious to Him – “His only begotten Son,” Jesus Christ. The phrase “only begotten Son” does not mean Jesus had a beginning like a baby that is birthed by his parents, as many false religions teach today. The compound Greek word translated “only begotten” is monogenḗs, which literally means “one (monos) of a kind (genos).” Jesus Christ is the only One of His kind. He is fully God (John 1:1-3) and fully Man (John 1:14). This is the message of the gospel of John.

God gave His only begotten Son to die in our place on a cross for our sins and rise from the dead (I Corinthians 15:3-6). Could you kill your child to save others? I certainly would not. Our love is pale compared to God’s love for us. Somebody might say to you, “I love you. Here’s my house. I’ll give it to you.” But how do you know that person doesn’t own ten homes so that giving up one is no sacrifice? Another person could say to you, “I love you. Here’s a million dollars.” But how do you know he does not have a billion dollars? When God says, “I love you. Here’s My perfect and only Son,” that is love. The greatest proof of His love is that He would allow His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins.

Did Jesus die for one country…culture or color? Did He die only for the elect? No, His death was for “all” nations of the world and all people (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; John 1:29; 4:42; I Timothy2:3-6; I John 2:2). Jesus died for all people groups everywhere. Does that include drug addicts and prostitutes? Yes. Does that include Atheists, Buddhists, Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, and Protestants? Yes. Jesus died for all of them.

The third reason everyone needs John 3:16 is BECAUSE JESUS’ INVITATION IS FOR EVERYONE. Jesus said, “that whoever…” When we hear that God loves the world we may think, “Wow, that’s over 7.8 billion people. God may lose sight of me among that many people in the world today.” “Sure,” we say, “God loves the world in general, but what about me? What’s to keep Him from forgetting about me?” This is why God has placed the word “whoever” in this verse. When God looks at the world, He sees individuals, including you and me.

Thank God for that word “whoever.” If this verse read, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that when Jeff Ropp believes in Him, he should not perish, but have everlasting life,” I might be inclined to think He was talking about some other Jeff Ropp because this Jeff Ropp is such a filthy sinner; but whoever means this Jeff Ropp and that Jeff Ropp, and all the other Jeff Ropp’s in the world, and everyone else, whatever his or her name may be. This invitation is for everyone. What is Jesus inviting everyone to do?

This leads to the fourth reason why everyone needs John 3:16: BECAUSE EVERYONE NEEDS SUCH SIMPLICITY. Jesus said, “believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”Jesus is inviting us to believe in Him for everlasting life. He did not say, “whoever … does good in the community… lives an obedient life… denies himself and follows Me… confesses his sins… asks Me into his heart…  promises to serve Me… or is baptized.”  He simply says, “whoever believes in Him…” What does it mean to believe? To believe simply to accept something as true and then trust in that something.

Jesus says a person “believes” and “have.” You have what you take, correct? For example, if I were to say to you, “This $100 bill is yours if you will take it.” You cannot enjoy that $100 until you take it. If you take it, you have believed my promise to give it to you. Jesus asks us to take by faith the eternal life that He is freely offering to us. The moment you believe His promise to give everlasting live to all who believe in Him, you “have” everlasting life. Jesus guarantees that you will “not perish” in hell, but “have” everlasting life both now and forever. This is so simple that children often believe it much sooner than adults.

In John 3:16, Jesus is saying, “I love you. I died for you and rose from the dead. Will you trust Me to give you the never-ending life I bought for you with My own blood?” This is an invitation to believe or trust in Christ and Him alone – not ourselves or our good works. If you have just believed or trusted in Jesus Christ alone to give you everlasting life, you can tell Jesus this through prayer. Praying this prayer will not get you to heaven. Only believing or trusting in Jesus alone gets us to heaven. This prayer is a way of telling God you are now trusting in His Son.

Prayer: “Dear Jesus, thank You for John 3:16 which tells me that You love me just as I am and that You want to be in a relationship with me forever. Lord Jesus, I admit that I have sinned against You and that I cannot save myself. I believe You died in my place on a cross for all of my sins and rose from the dead. I am now trusting in You alone, Jesus, (not my good life, my prayers, or my religion) to give me everlasting life and save me from hell forever. Thank You, Jesus, for the everlasting life I now have. Thank You for saving me from hell forever! Please help me to share John 3:16 with others before it is too late for them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

To grow in your new relationship with Jesus Christ, please visit please visit www.seeyouinheaven.life or www.knowing-Jesus.com or evantell.org.  If you found this article to be helpful, please share it with those you want to see in heaven.Thank you and may Jesus richly bless you as you make Him known to others.

What you will and will not find in heaven

The last two chapters of the Bible reveal many details of what you will and will not find in heaven. Focusing on these things can dramatically impact our lives in the weeks and months ahead.

I. WHAT YOU WILL FIND IN HEAVEN

“Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” Revelation 21:5

According to Revelation 21-22, here are five things you will find in Heaven:

1. A REMARKABLE CITY. “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” (Rev. 21:10). Heaven will consist of a beautiful city that is illuminated by Christ Himself (Rev. 21:11). Jesus’ presence will make this city look like a gigantic, glistening diamond. Instead of there being one pearly gate, there will be twelve pearly gates – three gates per wall. Look at the shape and size of this city (Rev. 21:12-13, 21a). This will be a square-shaped city that is fifteen hundred miles long, fifteen hundred miles wide, and fifteen hundred miles high (Rev. 21:16). This goes well beyond Earth’s atmosphere and into space. If a building in the city is this high and has a generous twelve feet per story, the building would be over six hundred sixty-six thousand stories! The New Jerusalem will appear to shine as a mass of pure gold with streets of gold (Rev. 21:18, 21b). The foundation of this remarkable city consists of twelve layers of precious jewels, making up the colors of the rainbow (Rev. 21:19-20).

2. REUNION with Other BELIEVERS. “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem” (Rev. 21:9-10a).  Note the connection between the New Jerusalem and the Church (bride of Christ). Jesus promised the apostles of the Church, “I go to prepare a place for you…that where I am there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). This remarkable city is being carefully prepared by God’s Son for His bride, the Church (cf. I Cor. 11:2; Ephes. 5:22-24).

The New Jerusalem will have twelve gates. “Also, she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel” (Rev. 21:12-13). Gates in ancient cities were often named with reference to where they led. For example, in ancient Jerusalem, the Benjamin gate led to the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. The names of the twelve apostles, whom Jesus promised would rule over the twelve tribes of Israel, are on the twelve foundations of the city (Rev. 21:14). What this suggests, is that King Jesus and the Church will rule Israel and the entire new earth from this city. So, every believer in Jesus during this Church age will live in the New Jerusalem and all other believers before and after the Church Age will live outside the City on the new earth. But these other believers will have access to the New Jerusalem: “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Rev. 21:27b). How do you get your name written in the Lamb’s book of life? By grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).

3. RESPONSIBILITIES.“And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.” (Rev. 22:3). The Bible says you will have the responsibility of serving the Lord in heaven. And there will be many different jobs. For example, Isaiah 65 tells us: “17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. [bad memories will be erased] … 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.” (Isaiah 65:17, 21). There will be construction work in heaven and gardening. I believe the greatest inventions will be made in eternity. If people can put men on the moon and build skyscrapers in their fallen state, think of what they will be able to do in their perfect resurrection bodies!

Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992
www.revelationillustrated.com

4. REWARDS. There is so much teaching on this in the New Testament, but for now we’ll just look at one verse. “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” (Rev. 22:14). Believers whose lives are characterized by obedience to God’s commands now will enjoy access to the tree of life in the New Jerusalem and the privilege of being able to enter the city through its twelve main gates. The tree of life was in the original Paradise, the Garden of Eden, and it will flourish in God’s eternal kingdom, providing a different fruit each month and enhancing the lives of those who eat it. In the Middle East today, some cities have special VIP entrances into the city. The New Jerusalem will have twelve such gates. While all believers will be able to enter the city, only faithful believers will enter by the twelve gates of pearl. In the Old Testament to be “in the gates” was an honor reserved for the elders of the city. To enter New Jerusalem through one of its twelve gates of pearl, will be a great honor reserved only for those Christians who overcame in this life.

5. REJOICING. What I mean by this is we are going to worship in heaven. We will honor the Lord Jesus Christ forever in Heaven. We will celebrate who He is and what He has done throughout eternity! “And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.” (Rev. 21:24). In heaven, there will be different nations perhaps much like today. The leaders of these nations (overcomers) will reenact what the wise men did almost two thousand years ago, when they brought their gifts to baby Jesus. In eternity, the kings of the earth are going to bring their glory (treasures) to King Jesus year after year in the New Jerusalem to worship and glorify Christ. This new earth is going to be a glorious place where everyone brings glory to God. All the curses that came as a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden are going to be removed. There will be no more pollution… no animals that we need to fear… no people we need to fear – no criminals because no one will sin on the new earth. It will be like the Garden of Eden revisited. It will be paradise on the new earth, not in heaven. So, contrary to what many people think – we are not going to spend eternity floating on some cloud playing a harp in a colorless place. Instead we will spend eternity on the Garden of Eden revisited – the new earth.

Knowing what heaven will be like can motivate Christians to prepare for this wonderful place. While all believers in Jesus Christ will enter or occupy the new earth (Kingdom of God) through childlike faith alone in Christ alone for His free gift of eternal life (Matt. 18:3; Mark 10:14-15; Luke 18:16-17; John 3:5-16; Rev. 21:6), only those who faithfully trust and obey Christ until the end of their life on earth will inherit (Matt. 5:3; Rom. 8:17b; 2 Tim. 2:12; James 2:5; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21; 20:4, 6; cf. Exodus 12:48-49; Numbers 18:20-24; 36:7-9; Deuteronomy 21:15-17; I Cor. 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephes. 5:5-6) or possess all that is promised to the overcomer in Revelation including wearing special white garments (Rev. 3:4-5), ruling with Christ (Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21; cf. 2 Tim. 2:12), eating the fruit of the tree of life (Rev. 2:7), eating hidden manna (Rev. 2:17), receiving a white stone engraved with your own special name that only the Lord and you will know (Rev. 2:17), and receiving a special entrance into the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:7a; cf. 22:14).  

II. WHAT YOU WILL NOT FIND IN HEAVEN

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4

Here are five things you will not find in heaven according to Revelation 21:

1. No SADNESS.  “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev. 21:4a). No more broken hearts … rejection… loneliness… grief. No more heartache. That is heaven. God will wipe away every tear from your eyes. You will not have sadness or grief again. Those of you who are grieving the loss of a loved one or maybe you’ve been going through a period of depression, one of the things that does in our lives is it just makes heaven seem a little bit closer. We want to go to heaven when we are in pain. Why? Because there is none there.

2.  No DEATH. “There shall be no more death.” (Rev. 21:4b). There will be no funerals in heaven… no more cemeteries. Why? Because in that heavenly city no one ever dies. You won’t ever have to be concerned about losing a loved one because death will be gone forever!

3. No SUFFERING. “There shall be no more pain” (Rev. 21:4c). No more bad hair days ladies and gentlemen. Everything about us will be perfect. This will be a glorious time. We will have glorified bodies. There will be no eyeglasses, no braces, no wheelchairs, no hearing aids, and no crutches. There will be no more hospitals, no ambulances, no CPR. COVID-19 will not exist, aspirin will be gone, accidents over, heart attacks banished, AIDS a distant memory, cancer done away with. No more chronic pain.

4. No SHADOWS. “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” (Rev. 21:23). There will be no need for the sun, moon or stars in heaven because the glory of Jesus will be its light. This will be the heavenly version of “the city that never sleeps.” We will not need to sleep because we will have glorified bodies that never grow tired. No need for caffeinated coffee! No sadness, no death, no suffering, no shadows…

5. No SIN. “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Rev. 21:27). Nothing that is sinful or leads to sin will ever be a part of the New Jerusalem. Unbelieving people and their evil ways will be confined to the Lake of Fire (21:8). I’m looking forward to the moment that I no longer have any temptations or sin in my life. No more hang-ups. Think about it – no more fears. Can you imagine what it’ll be like to live with no fear, no guilt, no shame, no resentment, no worry, no bitterness, no envy, no jealousy, no loneliness. But you’re still going to be you. You will still have your personality only without any weaknesses.

Heaven is going to be an incredible place! God loves you so much that He wants you to live with Him there for eternity. To do so, you must receive His free gift of eternal life. Why? Because the Bible says we are born with sinful hearts – “Surely, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5). From the moment of conception, we possess a sinful nature that causes us to break God’s rules. Because all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23), we deserve to be separated from God forever in the Lake of Fire (Romans 6:23a; Rev. 20:15). But God’s love for those who don’t possess eternal life is so great that in the final two chapters of the Bible He offers eternal life (“the water of life”) as a free gift (Revelation 21:6; 22:17). “The water of life” is eternal life and Jesus offers it “freely” to those who believe in Him. You don’t work for eternal life because it has already been paid for when Jesus died on the Cross for our sins and rose from the dead.  Jesus said, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life.” (John 6:47).

What is Jesus asking you to do that is hard for you to trust Him with? Is He asking you to trust Him for eternal life, but it’s hard for you to let go of your works and trust Him alone? It’s so simple that children get it and adults miss it. None of us are promised tomorrow. If you were to drop dead in the next minute are you absolutely certain you are going to heaven? If you are not, you can make sure right now. Why would anybody put it off? You need to settle this issue right now and you need to put your trust in Jesus for eternal life. When you trust Him, He gives you everlasting life (John 6:47), He forgives all your sins (Acts 10:43; Colossians 2:13-14), He places you in God’s family forever (John 1:12; 6:37), and He comes to live inside of you through His Holy Spirit (John 7:39a; Galatians 4:6). He guarantees that you will live with Him forever in Heaven when you die or are removed from the earth through the Rapture of the Church, whichever occurs first (John 3:16; I Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-5:11; I John 5:13).

If you just believed or trusted in Jesus alone for His gift of everlasting life, you can tell Jesus this through prayer. But praying this prayer is not what gets you to heaven. Only trusting in Christ alone gets you to heaven. This prayer is a way of telling God you are now trusting in His Son.

“Dear Jesus, I come to you now as a sinner who cannot save himself. I believe You died in my place on the cross for all of my sins and rose from the dead. I am now trusting in You alone, Jesus (not my good life, my prayers, or my religion) to give me everlasting life and a future home in heaven. Thank You Jesus, for the everlasting life I now have and the future home I will have in heaven. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

When you believed in Jesus, He gave you everlasting life which can never be lost (John 10:28-29). He forgave all of your sins (Acts 10:43; Col. 2:13-14) and placed you in His family forever (John 1:12; 6:37). Christ’s Spirit now lives inside of you to comfort, guide, and teach you how to follow Jesus as you read and apply the Bible (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-14; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). To help you grow in your new relationship with Jesus, please visit www.seeyouinheaven.life or www.knowing-Jesus.com or www.evantell.org.

If you found this article to be helpful, please share it with those you want to see in heaven. Thank you and may Jesus reveal more of Himself to you as you learn to follow Him.

*Note: The Revelation Art is used by permission of Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992. To order art prints visit her “Revelation Illustrated” site, http://www.revelationillustrated.com.

How can I know God is for me when all this bad stuff is happening?

As conditions worsen with regard to the coronavirus, many people are panicking. In large part, it seems to me that the media is highly responsible for a lot of fear-based decision making. God does not want His children to be driven by fear. He wants us to be driven by faith (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:7). With so many negative reports in the news today, it is challenging to maintain a life of faith. We may succumb to this bombardment of sensationalism and begin to doubt if God is really on our side. A lie that the enemy likes to whisper in a Christian’s ear when bad things are happening is, “God is against you.” Do you ever have thoughts like that? I certainly do.

The truth God has given us to combat this lie is found in Romans 8:31 where the apostle Paul writes: ““If God is for us [and He is], who can be against us” (8:31)? When we think someone is against us, God says, “Since I am for you (and no one is greater than Me), no one can successfully oppose you!” This includes the coronavirus, those in authority over us, family, friends, and even the devil and his demonic armies. As a preacher once said, “One plus God is  always a majority.” Does it always feel this way? No. But our feelings do not always tell the truth.

You may respond, “But God, how do I know You are for me?” Paul writes, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things” (8:32)? When we were enemies of God, He gave us His own Son to die in our place (Romans 5:6-8). If God gave us His best when we were at our worst, how much more will He give us now that we are His beloved children!?!

God the Holy Spirit wants to apply these truths beyond our thoughts to the depths of our soul and spirit so that even when bad and painful things happen to us, we will still know deep down inside that God is for us. He is on our side. God is our biggest fan despite what we hear from our antagonists, including our own flesh. Therefore, there is no longer any reason to live in fear.

How do we replace this lie (and others) with God’s truth? Second Corinthians 10:3-5 instructs us. First, we must rely on God’s power, not our own. This battle for our minds is not “according to the flesh” (10:3). Nothing in our own flesh will help us to live victoriously or draw us closer to the Lord. Since the weapons of our warfare are “mighty in God,” then we must rely  upon the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome Satan’s lies (10:4).

Second, recognize the erroneous thought. This battle is located in our minds because it involves “strongholds,” “arguments,” “knowledge,” and “every thought” (10:4-5). The word “strongholds” pictures a fortress with high walls and towers surrounded by a moat. God says these strongholds must be destroyed which means that God did not build them. A “stronghold” then, is a negative, destructive pattern of thinking that Satan has built in our minds through repetition, trauma, or circumstances. Satan does not put thoughts in our minds. He uses other people’s voices to insert thoughts in our mind. Ungodly thoughts come from us. Christ lives inside us and He does not give us these ungodly thoughts (Galatians 2:20). We will not get very far in this battle for our minds until we acknowledge these satanic strongholds.

Third, release the lie. “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” (10:5a). Dismiss the lie and say, “This is not true, therefore, it is a lie and I am not going to pay attention to this. I am not going to entertain these thoughts that say God is against me.”

Fourth, reprogram your mind with the truth, “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (10:5b). How do we bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ? Jesus told us: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). The devil is a liar by nature and he cannot handle the truth (John 6:44). This is why the devil tries to distract us from the truth so that it never gets deep down into the areas where he has a stronghold in our lives.

Persevere in this truth: “God is for me and not against me. The proof? He gave me His best on the cross when I was at my worst.” Review this truth daily. Say it out loud. Find a picture or image that represents this truth and review it throughout the day. This will help download the truth of God’s Word into your right brain where lies are attached to wounds from your past.

Neuroscience teaches us that it takes 2-5 years to develop new neurological pathways in our brain that contain the truth. So keep telling yourself the truth even when you don’t feel like it or see it so you can create and strengthen the new pathway in your brain. Our bodies create new brain cells the more we tell ourselves the truth. The more we tell ourselves the truth, the stronger the pathway becomes between brain cells. When we ignore the lie, the old pathway weakens – those brain cells containing Satan’s lies have less power and strength. You can continue to create new brain cells throughout your life by speaking the truth to yourself. When Paul said, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2), perhaps he not only had a spiritual transformation in mind, but a physiological transformation in mind as well.

Prayer: Father God, by Your Spirit, please heal my soul of the wound that has the lie attached to it that says, “You are against me.” I cannot heal this wound myself. No doctor, pastor, or therapist can heal me. Only You, Lord God, can heal me. I will need Your grace to replace this lie with Your truth that says, “You are for me. And since no one is greater than You, no one can successfully oppose me.” When I doubt that You are for me, please remind me of the cross that says You gave me Your best when I was at my worst. And since You gave Your best to me when I was at my worst, how much more will You give me through Your Son Jesus now that I am Your beloved child through faith in Him!?! Thank You that I no longer need to live in fear. I can awaken each morning expectant of Your best for me through the Lord Jesus Christ. In His name I pray. Amen.

There is hope even if I don’t know how to pray

“26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27

As we face the many challenges presented to us by the coronavirus, we may not know how to pray to God. And we can lose that sense of hope that says things will get better. Maybe you are feeling that way now. Maybe you have an ache in your heart over a loss of some kind. It may be the loss of connections with people through social distancing. Or your loss may revolve around finances… a job… a friendship … your own health… or the loss of a loved one.

Romans 8:26-27 tells us, “26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” These verses are telling us that if you are a Christian, you can have hope through the indwelling Holy Spirit Who “helps us in our weaknesses” (8:26a). When we encounter pain and suffering (Rom. 8:18-25), we may not know exactly how to pray to God, so the Holy Spirit helps us by praying on our behalf (“makes intercession for us”) to God the Father (8:26b).

The word “groanings” expresses feelings of compassion for our weak condition. The Holy Spirit requests the Father’s help for us with deep compassion (cf. Eph. 6:18). However, we should not confuse these “groanings” with praying in tongues. These “groanings … cannot be uttered” by the Hoy Spirit. This is not an audible prayer language to the human ear. Besides, this passage promises all Christians God’s help, not just those who had the gift of tongues. Furthermore, the Scriptures never connect the gift of tongues with intercessory prayer. The main point of verse 26 is that even when “we do not know what we should pray for,” the Holy Spirit prays to God the Father on our behalf, telling Him exactly what is on our hearts (8:26).

Even though we cannot hear the Holy Spirit’s intercession for us, God the Father can hear and understand Him. So not only does the Holy Spirit pray on our behalf, but we have a heavenly Father “who searches” our hearts and “knows what the mind of the Spirit is” (8:27a).The Holy Spirit makes our hearts understandable to the Father. We can be assured that the Holy Spirit’s prayers for us are effective in securing God’s help for us, because the Spirit prays on our behalf “according to the will of God” (8:27b).

For example, when our children were infants, my wife would tune in to each child’s wordless cry. She learned to distinguish a cry for food from a cry for attention, an earache cry from a stomachache cry. To me the sounds were identical, but not to their mother who instinctively discerned the meaning of the helpless child’s cry. The Holy Spirit has resources of sensitivity beyond those of the most discerning mother. The Spirit of God can detect needs we cannot articulate. So as the Spirit prays for us, He gives content and expression to our heavenly Father as to the deep things of our hearts. He makes us understandable to the Father. When we do not know what to pray the Holy Spirit fills in the blanks.

I remember visiting a church member in his home several years ago after he had battled an illness that made it difficult for him to put his thoughts into words. He told me there would be times with the Lord that he would be unable to finish his prayers and this greatly disturbed him. So I turned to Romans 8:26-27 and explained to him that even when he was unable to finish his prayers, God the Holy Spirit would finish them for him. The Spirit would pray to God the Father on this man’s behalf, telling the Father exactly what was on his heart. The Holy Spirit made him understandable to the Father. And not only that, the Spirit prayed on his behalf according to the will of God. These truths gave this man hope that God truly did understand his deepest longings and needs that he was unable to put into words.

So when we feel uptight about our inability to pray about a particular need or situation, we can rest in the promises found in Romans 8:26-27. We are assured that God will help us in our weaknesses because the Holy Spirit makes our needs and longings known to the Father by praying to Him on our behalf. During difficult times, we need to know that God understands us. Even if we can’t express ourselves well, our compassionate Father in heaven will understand how we feel and what we need because of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. When we feel understood, we really begin to experience hope. Because if God understands our hearts and our needs, then He can do something about them.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, during these uncertain times, it can be difficult for me to find the words that express my deepest longings and needs to the Father in prayer. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for praying to the Father on my behalf according to God’s will even when I do not know what to pray. Knowing that You make my heart’s desires understandable to my compassionate Father in heaven gives me hope in the midst of these difficult times. Because when my heart’s deepest longings and needs are understood by You, then You can do something about them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hope in the midst of the coronavirus

COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), continues to spread around the world, with an increasing number of cases here in the United States. The World Health Organization has declared that we are in the midst of a global pandemic. This virus is shutting down political campaign rallies, professional sports leagues, schools, Broadway, Disneyland, and even travel on planes and cruise ships. Some states in the USA are banning mass gatherings for organized events for the next month.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THESE TWO PANDEMICS

There is another global pandemic that is much older and deadlier than the coronavirus. The Bible calls this lethal and widespread virus sin. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Just as the coronavirus does not respect ethnic boundaries or national borders, neither does sin.

While the elderly and those with chronic conditions appear to be more at risk for the coronavirus, all people are infected by sin. No exceptions. No matter what your age, appearance, color of skin, or language, you are infected by this spiritual disease. The Bible tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin is when we disobey God’s laws (I John 3:4). When we hate, lie, lust, or steal, we sin against God.

Those exposed to or infected by the coronavirus are being separated or even isolated from others. Likewise, our sin separates us from God. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The word “death” in the Bible means separation. Sin separates us from God because He is holy, righteous, and perfect (Isaiah 59:2). He cannot be around sin. The final punishment for our sin is separation from God forever in a terrible place called the Lake of Fire or Hell (Revelaion 20:15). Please understand that God does not want any of us to die forever in Hell.

THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO PANDEMICS

One of the reasons the coronavirus is causing such great panic around the world is because there is no known cure. But there is a cure for the deadlier pandemic of sin. The Bible tells us that God entered the world infected by this virus called sin. He lived among sick people, not wearing a chemical protective suit, but breathing the same air and eating the same food as we do. Out of love for the world, including you and me, He died in isolation on a cross, excluded from His people and separated from His Father, and then rose from the dead so He might provide this sick world with an antidote to the virus (I Corinthians 15:3-6).

Jesus is alive today and freely offers you the cure for this deadlier virus. Listen to what He said to a woman whose brother died from the virus, “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 11:25-26). Christ guarantees a future resurrection and never ending life to all who believe in Him. No amount of our good works or efforts can save us from the deadly virus of sin (Isaiah 64:6). Only Jesus has the cure.

If you are not certain you will go to heaven when you die, believe in Jesus for His gift of everlasting life and He guarantees you will live with Him forever in Heaven. He said, “16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17; cf. 3:36; 14:1-3). If you trusted in Jesus just now for His gift of everlasting life, you can tell God through prayer. Remember, praying this prayer will not get you to Heaven. Only trusting in Christ alone gets you to Heaven. This prayer is a way of telling God you are now trusting in His Son.

Prayer: “Dear Jesus, I come to you now infected by this lethal virus called sin. I cannot save myself from this virus. I believe You became infected by this virus and died on a cross and rose from the dead to save me from sin and death. I am now trusting in You alone Jesus (not my good life, water baptism, or church attendance) to give me everlasting life and save me from this pandemic of sin forever. Thank You for the everlasting life I now have. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

When you believed in Christ, He gave you everlasting life which can never be lost (John 10:28-29). God became your Father and you became His child forever (John 1:12). And Jesus now lives  inside you through His Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11-13). He promises never to leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Christ’s resurrection guarantees you a new resurrection body in the future that will not be subject to disease or death (I Corinthians 15:35-57). Please help others to escape this deadly pandemic of sin by sharing this good news of Jesus’ cure.  

Hope for tomorrow

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

As we close out 2019 and prepare for the New Year, we may feel that there is little hope for our future. Recent circumstances or past painful memories may leave us feeling alone and discouraged. We may ask ourselves, “Is there any hope?”

This question is asked everyday by thousands of people in thousands of different ways. When your home is destroyed by flood waters or a Typhoon, you ask, “Is there any hope?”  When you are sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for test results, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you feel stuck in your marriage, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you are unable to find a job, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you keep struggling with an addiction, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When people keep rejecting you because of your commitment to Christ, you ask, “Is there any hope?”

I believe this was a question the people of Judah probably asked when they were taken into captivity in Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah sent his first letter to them while they were in captivity and wanted them to realize that God “caused” them “to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon” (29:1, 4) so they would trust that He is in control. He advised them to make the most of their time during their 70 years of captivity by building “houses,” planting “gardens,” marrying, having “sons and daughters,” and anticipating grandchildren (29:5-6). They were to “seek the peace of the city” where they now lived and “pray to the Lord for it” so they would be blessed as God blessed the city (29:7). God warned them not to let their “prophets and diviners who are” with them to “deceive” them into thinking their time in captivity was short (28:8-9) because He had already said it would be for 70 years (29:10; cf. 25:11-12).

God’s ultimate plans (“thoughts”) for His people were “of peace, not of evil, to give” them “a future and a hope” (29:11). At the end of their captivity, God’s people would “call upon” Him and He “will listen” to them and bring them “back” to the land He promised them (29:12-14).

Listen carefully to what God is saying in verse 11. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you.” God is thinking of you. When believers feel hopeless, they may feel that God has lost their address. They conclude that God does not care about them nor pay attention to them. But God is saying that you are important to Him, so much so, that He is thinking of you.

But you may wonder, “What kind of thoughts does God have toward me?” If you have unresolved trauma in your past, you may fear that God’s thoughts toward you are “evil,” and He is plotting to harm you. God assures us that His “thoughts” or plans for us in the future are filled with “peace, not of evil.” God is not making plans for you that are filled with chaos and evil. He is planning a quiet and tranquil “future” for you that is filled with “hope.” Hope is the confident expectation of good from God.

God may have led you to read this article today so He could say to you: “Don’t give in to discouragement or despair. Don’t give up, look up. Don’t despair, turn to Me prayer.” If you have believed in Jesus Christ for His gift of everlasting life, you need to know that Jesus Christ is thinking of you and believes in you. He is on your side and nothing can separate you from His love (Rom. 8:31-39). He wants you to see yourself through His eyes so that you can live a victorious Christian life that is filled with confidence and hope!

If you do not have Jesus Christ in your life, He wants you to know that He has been thinking of you before you were ever born. He longs to be in a personal relationship with you. But we all have a problem that separates us from God. Our problem is called sin. Sin is when we disobey God with our thoughts, our words, and our actions. But God does not want any of us to be separated from Him, so He provided a solution to our sin problem. The Bible says, “But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23b). God loved us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to take our punishment on the cross and rise from the dead so we could receive everlasting life as a free gift by believing or trusting in Christ alone (I Cor. 15:1-6). Jesus said, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). Christ now invites you to trust in Him alone (not your good life, baptism, or church attendance, etc.), and He will give you everlasting life as a free gift which can never be lost (John 10:28-29).

After you put your trust in Christ alone to give you everlasting life, you can be assured that God has a future for you that is filled with peace and hope! You can now talk to the Lord through prayer at any time and at any place about anything.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for showing me that I am important enough for You to think of me. Sometimes I feel forgotten and unimportant to You, but the truth is You are always thinking of me. Please help me to believe that Your thoughts or plans for me are filled with peace and hope, not chaos and evil, so I can trust You to do what is best for me. Each day when I awake, I can now anticipate good from You through the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for renewing my sense of hope through Him. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Renewing our sense of hope

“22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

The prophet Jeremiah is mourning God’s severe judgment of Jerusalem which had departed from Him, bringing much devastation and destruction (Lam. 1-2). In the midst of his anguish and heartbreak (3:1-20), Jeremiah expresses his hope in the Lord (3:21). “22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (3:22-23). Had it not been for “the Lord’s mercies,” the nation of Israel would have been “consumed” and no longer existed as a nation. Because God’s “compassions” never fail even when His people are unfaithful, they can have a renewed sense of hope “every morning.” Since God’s “faithfulness” to His promises is “great,” His people can have a renewed sense of faithfulness to their loyal God.

What about you? Do you feel that God is being unfair to you in the midst of your struggles? Have you lost hope as you watch our country move farther away from the Lord and His ways? Do you believe the Lord is judging His church in America by giving it a lack of influence and a lack of sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading? Is your heart filled with anguish and a lack of hope?

Listen to the voice of truth in Lamentations 3:22-23 and let the Holy Spirit apply it to the depths of your being. “22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” God’s “mercies” withhold the judgment and condemnation that would normally consume you. His “compassions” (empathy, kindness, gentleness) never fail. He understands your vulnerabilities and weaknesses and still loves you just as you are. The Lord’s mercies and compassions are “new every morning,” giving you a renewed sense of hope that today God is going to bless you. Why? Because His “faithfulness” is “great” toward you in Jesus Christ (I Cor. 1:9), and is not dependent upon your performance. Soak up God’s mercies, compassions, and faithfulness, and He will fill you with unending hope!

Prayer: Lord God Almighty, I pray You would wake me up each morning making me fully aware of Your mercies, compassions, and faithfulness so that I will turn to You when I am hurting and insecure. Make me sensitive to the fact that Your mercies withhold the judgment and condemnation that I deserve so that I will continue to be open and honest with You even when I fail. Renew my mind to the truth that says Your compassions undertand my vulnerabilities and weaknesses so that I will not hide anything from You. And help me believe that Your faithfulness is great toward me in Christ so that I will be more faithful to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What can I do as the world gets worse?

“O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!” Psalm 84:12

With at least 31 people killed in mass shootings in Texas and Ohio last weekend, you may ask yourself, “What can I do as the world gets worse?” I would recommend you turn to Psalm 84 to discover the answer to that question.

In this Psalm, the writer describes the blessedness of those who dwell in “the house” (temple) of God (84:1-4). As those who long to worship the Lord in His temple journey to that place (84:5), they find more and more spiritual “strength” and refreshment even though they may pass through arid regions (“the Valley of Baca”) that others found to be disappointing and draining (85:6-7). During their travels to the house of God, they prayed for their king (“our shield” and “Your anointed”) (84:8-9). Their longing to go to the temple is because “a day” in God’s presence (“Your courts”) “is better than a thousand” days “in the tents of wickedness” (84:10). 

Instead of encountering the influence of the wicked in God’s temple, they experienced “the Lord God” Who is like “a sun” that gives warmth and light. God is also like a “shield” Who protects them from harm (84:11a). The Lord gives “grace and glory” to them, withholding “no good thing” from them (84:11b). The wicked, however, are the opposite of the Lord. Instead of providing warmth and light, they are hateful (cold) and full of darkness. Instead of protecting the worshippers from harm, they seek to dish out harm to them. Instead of giving grace and glory to others, they are ungracious and dishonoring toward them. The wicked do not give what is good to those who live uprightly, instead they repay them with evil. 

As we live in an increasingly evil world, we will discover renewed strength and refreshment as we draw near to the Lord God of hosts (84:1-7). The benefits of being near to the Lord far outweigh the evil that is growing stronger in the world (84:8-11). When we experience unspeakable joy in God’s presence, we can echo the words of the Psalmist, “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You” (84:12)! 

Psalm 84 is telling us, “When everything is all wrong, Jesus can make everything alright. Draw near to Him because He is more than enough.”

Does God give me more than I can handle?

I remember hearing the assurance that God will not give us more than we can handle when Christians were talking about I Corinthians 10:13 when it says, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.” But this is talking about temptations, not trials. 

The same author of I Corinthians 10:13, the apostle Paul, also wrote 2 Corinthians 1:8 which says, “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8). Notice that Paul says they were burdened beyond their own strength to the point of despair. Paul was in a situation where it seemed hopeless. Whatever he and his mission team were facing, was beyond their own resources to overcome. He felt God had put more on him than he or anyone on his mission team could handle.

Have you ever felt this way? That God has given you more than you can handle? That there is no way you can overcome this situation with your own resources? Your abilities and connections with others cannot rescue you from the hopelessness you are facing? You are tempted to give up because you cannot escape this place of despair? 

Why does God permit this to happen to us? Is He being unloving to us when He allows us to have more than we can handle? Paul also explains why God gives us more than we can handle in 2 Corinthians 1:9,“Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” God does give us more than we can handle so “that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” What God wants to do in these hopeless situations is to teach us to depend more on Him than on ourselves or others. He wants to “raise the dead” for us. He longs to do what is humanly impossible for us to do. 

This is very difficult for us to accept because we do not like to sit in our pain. Our natural tendency is to withdraw from the pain. We try to avoid pain by turning to a quick fix such as alcohol, busyness, depression, drugs, romance, sarcasm, theology, or even ministry instead of turning to God. But these options only lead to more pain and hopelessness.

God did not originally create people to have to deal with pain. Pain was not Adam and Eve’s experience before the Fall (Genesis 1-2). They lived in a perfect environment and enjoyed perfect fellowship with God and one another because there was no sin and death. Before the Fall, all their needs were met by God in the Garden of Eden. But after the Fall (Genesis 3:1-6), there was a separation from God resulting in fear and shame (Genesis 3:7-10). Adam and Eve’s first response was to fix the pain and shame by covering themselves with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). But this covering did not remove the effects of their sin. God had to do that when He “made tunics of skin” through the death of an innocent animal (Genesis 3:21). 

By providing a covering with animal skins, God provided forgiveness through the “shedding of blood” (Hebrews 9:22). God later provided forgiveness through the Old Testament sacrificial system which pointed ahead to the ultimate sacrifice of God’s perfect Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:29; Hebrews 9:23-10:25). Like that first animal that was sacrificed for Adam and Eve, Jesus Christ would also be innocent and without sin because He was and is God (John 1:1, 14, 17; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; I Peter 3:18). And like that first sacrificial animal, Jesus was born to die for the sins of others (John 1:29; Romans 5:8; I John 4:9), that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). 

Like Adam and Eve, we have a natural tendency to turn to other things to remove our pain. But God wants us to sit in our pain so we will draw closer to Him. If we do not sit in the pain, we do not need to go to God for comfort and strength. 

Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Christ does not say to “Come to a religion or to your pastor, priest, parents, or peers.” No, He says, “Come to Me.” Nor does He say, “Come to Me and I will give you fear, guilt and shame.” No, Jesus says to come to Him in faith and He “will give you rest.” The rest Jesus offers here refers to a state of mind that exists when a non-Christian realizes he or she does not have to earn or work for their salvation. This refers to the positional rest of eternal life that is based on trusting in Christ’s accomplishment on the cross. 

If you do not know for sure that you have eternal life and will go to heaven when you die, accept Jesus’ invitation and come to Him just as you are for spiritual rest by believing in Jesus for His gift of eternal life (11:28; cf. John 3:16). Then He can give you the comfort and strength you need when you face more than you can handle.

If you have believed in Jesus for everlasting life, understand that there will be times when He gives you more than you can handle so you will learn to draw near to Him and depend on Him to do what you could never do on your own (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). He wants to take you deeper in your relationship with Him so you can experience His resurrection power.