Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 2:1,

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”

It is before our Heavenly Father that we are culpable for our sins. He tells us in Jeremiah 9:24, “I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.” Not just kindness but also justice and righteousness. In Revelation 20:15 we read, “If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” This is the payment for sin. As we are told in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.”

But Jesus taught us in John 5:24, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” This is how our names are entered into the "book of life". Those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith are now and forever will be free from the consequences of sin. We still face physical death as our bodies are yet to be redeemed (see Romans 8:23-25) but we now celebrate our eternal life because Jesus Christ has become a sacrifice of atonement for our sins.

John tells us here that if we do sin, if we disappoint God, ourselves and others, we have One who speaks to the Father in our defense. He has paid the penalty for all of our sin. John goes on to say in verse two that Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Paul also tells us in Romans 8:31b-34, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

Jesus Christ speaks to the Father in our defense! Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us! Paul also tells us in Romans 8:26 that the indwelling Holy Spirit is also interceding for us! What a team we have on our side! He keeps us from falling and will present us before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy! Jude 24.

How could there be any more wonderful news than this?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 2:26-27,

“I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.”

To anoint means to apply, to smear or rub with. Here the apostle John tells believers they are anointed by God. This anointing teaches us about all things. It is a “real” anointing as compared with a “counterfeit” and remains in us.

John says there are others who do not have this anointing. Although they claimed to be in fellowship with God, because they lack this anointing they left the camp of believers: their leaving showed they did not belong to the household of faith.

This anointing from God brings to mind some fascinating passages of Scripture. All passages that speak to a wonderful mystical spiritual work the Lord wrought in our lives the moment we believed:

“Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13b-14.

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22.

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:5.

“We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” 1 Corinthians 12:13.

“You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Romans 8:9-11.

How wonderful to know God has anointed us! How wonderful to know this anointing remains with us and teaches us about all things!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 1:3,

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

The online definition of Merriam-Webster for “fellowship” includes companionship, company, community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience. The state of being a fellow or associate, a company of equals or friends, association. The English word is translated from the Greek word, “koinonia” and is sometimes also translated as “common”. Of course we understand that our fellowship with God does not indicate “a company of equals” as he is the Creator, we are his creation. He is God and forever will be; we are man and forever will be.

Yet there is nothing in the least “common” about the relationship the apostle John and those with him enjoyed with God the Father, his Son Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Mankind over the ages has been estranged from God through his sin and rebellion against God as described in Genesis 3. Because of this estrangement God has only revealed himself in limited ways through a very select few individuals. For John to say he enjoyed “fellowship” with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ indicated something very unusual and unique.

For God to purpose to “fellowship” with humans is a singular expression of his love and passion for mankind, his creation. It required the cleansing of all sin and defilement for God to invite mankind into such a relationship with him. It also expresses a desire of our God to share of himself with us in way that results in a transformation that inevitably takes place as we are indwelt with his Holy Spirit. God has chosen to share the things of himself with mankind!

How remarkable that God has chosen to share of himself in this way! How remarkable he has such a love and passion for mankind that he was willing to send his one and only Son to die a miserable death to pay for our sin, qualifying us for an intimacy with him! How remarkable that God has chosen to spend eternity with those of us who have reached out to embrace him in faith!

How remarkable is our God!!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 1:3,

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

What comes across loud and clear to me in this verse is invitation. John says what he proclaims of Jesus Christ, he does so that “you also may have fellowship with us.” Our God is a god of invitation. He invites all to his tent. He has open arms and seeks us all to come to him.

“For God so loved the world”, the whole world, not just certain ones. His call is to us all. God could have determined that only the best, only the brightest, only the strongest or only the most attractive would be permitted into his family… but not our God. If anything he almost seems to reach out to those that the world itself deems unworthy. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 we read, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”

“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30. Not just some… but all. The personification of Wisdom in Proverbs echoes this disposition of God to invite all in, “Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city. ‘Let all who are simple come in here!’ she says to those who lack judgment. ‘Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.’”

The apostle Paul’s burning desire was that all would heed the invitation or call of God. When standing on trial before King Agrippa and governor Festus he said, “I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.” Acts 26:29.

Far from “cherry-picking” favorites to enter his tent as some would have us believe, our God’s desire is that we all come to him. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:3-4. He even holds out his arms to those who reject him as if he were pleading with them, “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.' All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations…” Isaiah 65:1-2.

Our God is a loving God who wants us all. What he has decided is all who will enter his tent will do so only by embracing him in faith, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…” John 1:12. As Jesus himself said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

How can you not love a God such as this?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 1:6-7,

“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

I will be the first to admit that I struggle with sin at times in my life. I believe we all do as believers. The reason for it is that we still have active sin natures, even as redeemed children of God. The apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 5:17, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” As believers God has given us the Holy Spirit who dwells within each of us and the Holy Spirit is in conflict with the sinful nature which also continues to reside within us. At our deaths we leave the sinful nature behind but the Holy Spirit remains with us. When resurrection day comes, Paul says in Romans 8:10-11, “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”

But this is not the whole of it. There is an aspect of our salvation that seems to get very little press in sermons, radio talk shows and the commentaries we often read. If we go back to 1 John 1:6-7 and read carefully we notice that John is not exhorting us to not sin, to not “walk in the darkness”. He will exhort us to not do so later in the letter, 1 John 2:1. His point here is to look at our lives to see how we have been living and that tells us something. If we have been and are walking in darkness we don’t have the fellowship, if we have been and are walking in the light we have the fellowship and are purified from all sin. Very simply put, our lifestyle demonstrates whether we are a child of God or not.

John’s point is the same Jesus made in his sermon on the mount. Matthew 7:15-20, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

The aspect of our salvation that at times we hear little of is that we become a changed people. You might say that “bona fide saved people” have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them and they no longer live as they used to. A changed life tells the story. So, if we go back to Paul’s comments in Galatians 5:16 we read, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” And if we go back and look at the previous verse in Romans 8:9 we read, “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” He even goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” John himself tells us in 1 John 3:6, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”

Here is what gets the little press from my perception and should be shouted from the mountain tops: when we embrace Jesus Christ in faith the Holy Spirit comes to reside in us permanently and as a result we become changed people. It isn’t that there is now no conflict within us or that we may not occasionally sin, but the lifestyle has changed, the priorities change, we no longer live to satisfy our sinful cravings. When we slip and stumble and disappoint God and ourselves, we find ourselves before God, confessing and grieving over the sin.

The reason I feel it should be shouted from the mountain tops is that it is God who does this within us! He has given us his Spirit! He enables us to live lives that are pleasing to him! He is worthy of our praise and our worship as it is he who does wonderful things within our lives! I have every obligation to recognize the wonderful things he does within me and thank him and worship him for them!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 1:2-3,

“The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

This morning my thoughts are drawn to the apostles. John had encountered someone very unique during the formative years of his life as a very young man, maybe an older boy. He became one of an inner circle that Jesus shared select experiences with: his transfiguration on the mountain, Jesus moments in the garden of Gethsemane, etc. Together with Peter and his brother James, the first martyred apostle, he spent time with Jesus on a very personal level. John describes himself as the disciple Jesus loved, John 21:20-24.

John had the amazing opportunity to spend time with someone who was from heaven itself! John acknowledged to his readers that he and those with him had fellowship with the Father and with his Son. When Jesus was here on earth John lived his life with Jesus. They ate together and encamped together. They traveled together and brought the most amazing news to the Jews, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” They shared many experiences in those years and I can only imagine the conversations they must have shared that are not recorded in Scripture.

We live in a world that is estranged from God. There exists a great gulf between us and heaven itself. Heaven is from where our eternal destiny springs for those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith and yet we know so precious little of it. There are no travel brochures to provide us pictures, we have no friends who have visited and come back with video clips, etc. But John had access for a period of years to one who came from heaven, the Son of God himself!

If I were John, what might I have asked Jesus about? What was heaven like? Do we relate to it and all there just as we do on planet earth? Does heaven resemble God’s creation in any way? What are angels like? What is it like to live in God’s presence? What are the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” like?

We know that the apostles were very limited in their understanding of just who Jesus Christ was as he was with them and we know that it wasn’t until the Holy Spirit came to them after Jesus’ death that they had much better insight. But here John and the others experienced on a personal level someone who had eternally existed in heaven and was now within their midst and within their fellowship!

Just what must have that been like for them?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 1:8-10,

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

The apostle John makes the point that those who do not confess their sins are not truthful, they make God out to be a liar and that God’s “word has no place” in their lives. This is the second of a series of what we might call litmus tests to determine who is saved and who isn’t. Who is the genuine article when it comes to being a child of God and who is not. Who are false teachers and who are not. False teachers have infiltrated the ranks of believers in the church and are now attempting to draw the faithful away from apostolic teaching to themselves and John is providing the tests to expose them.

Embedded in this test is a wonderful promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” This brings to mind a passage in Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church, Ephesians 2:1-9,

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

How wonderful is this! Although we were dead in our transgressions “because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions”. Our God is faithful and just to forgive our sins as we confess them to him when we embrace his Son, Jesus Christ, in faith! Because the punishment we deserved was taken by him, God purifies us “from all unrighteousness”!

It is often these basic truths of the faith that get me excited when I think of our wonderful God!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org