Worship for Today: Jesus Christ brings joy into our lives!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 1:4,

“We write this to make our joy complete.”

As John writes and invites his readers to the fellowship that he and his people share with one another and God, he says he does so “to make our joy complete.” The NIV provides a footnote to this verse to say that some manuscripts have it “to make your joy complete.” Either way we find joy here! As John invites his readers to fellowship with Jesus Christ joy abounds!

Joy is not an everyday word. I don’t know that it is something that I hear very frequently in the “lingua franca” of our day outside of the church context. Maybe around Christmas when even unbelievers enjoy carols that focus on the birth of Jesus Christ.

Merriam-Webster online defines the word “joy” as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: delight. A state of happiness, bliss.” I can’t think of a better word than “joy” to describe the emotion Jesus Christ brings to our hearts as we come into fellowship with him! Talk about “possessing what one desires: delight”!!

In my mind there are two things about our wonderful Savior that brings us joy. The first is that he is who he is. Our Lord is one who is perfect and pristine in all of his majestic splendor. As one who is without fault in his character and nature he inspires respect, reverence, love, devotion and loyalty. As we experience these in our lives when we gaze upon the beauty of our Lord it speaks not nearly so much about our spiritual life as it does the fact that we took a good look at the many splendored qualities that make up the character and nature of our Lord. It is he who inspires these things within us. He is the Son of God who is filled with love, kindness and compassion. He has expressed these in so many ways as he dwelt among us, and of course, certainly these were the utmost expression of his sacrificial death on our behalf as he hung on that cross.

Secondly in my mind it is what Jesus Christ has done that brings us joy as well. Having set aside the prerogatives of being God, the Son of God left his exalted place at the side of our heavenly Father and took on humanity. Philippians 2:6-8. Having done so he procured satisfaction of God’s own justice for the sin in our lives! He now speaks to the Father on our behalf, I John 2:1 and has secured a guaranteed place for each one of us who have embraced him in faith in his kingdom. Ephesians 1:13-14. As such we have an eternity of life ahead of us that is described in Revelation 21:3b-4 as, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” As Paul quotes Isaiah 64:4, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Corinthians 2:9.

As Jude puts it in his doxology, “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

Fellowship with Jesus Christ brings true joy into our lives!!

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: Jesus Christ is without sin!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 5:18-19,

“You know that he [Jesus Christ] appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.”

There is something different about this one! In Jesus Christ is no sin! Can that be said about you or me? Can that be said about any of the heroes of the faith? What about our model of faith, Abraham? Scripture recounts his lying. What about Moses? We read of him dishonoring God by striking the rock that produced water for the Israelites in the desert. What about David? We read of his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband, Uriah. There is something different about Jesus Christ! Like us, all others have shortcomings, all others have faults, all others have sinned – but not this one.

Paul pulls several passages of Scripture together in Romans 3:9b-18. He says, “We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” But not all: all save one. This one is Jesus Christ the Son of the living God! Paul had mankind in mind as he quoted these Scriptures, not our sinless, holy and righteous Savior! This one is different!

Peter tells us “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” 1 Peter 1:18-19. This one has impeccable character! This one has no hidden motives, no wrinkle of duplicity! He is faithful, he is consistently honest, trustworthy and entirely without sin! “In him is no sin.”

I can’t think of a better proof that this man, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is without sin!

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: Our payment of atonement speaks on our behalf!

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

“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. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Here is a fascinating reality! The very sacrifice that paid the penalty for our sin now speaks on our behalf! Maybe it’s just me but it seems to me that the payment for something to speak to the veracity of a transaction carries more weight than anything else possibly can.

I’ll try to explain myself here (and don’t press this illustration too far). When you return some item to a store, they want to know whether you really bought the product at that store. The folks at the store don’t want to give you something if it isn’t due you so they often require a receipt of the transaction. Imagine if you show at the store with some product you are returning and the money in the till suddenly speaks up and says, “I’m the payment! I’m proof the transaction took place!”

Here we are told that Jesus Christ speaks to the Father in our defense. He is in the position to say, “I paid the price for him! I paid the debt!” No need to verify whether payment was made by checking the books or anything else. The currency itself, Jesus Christ himself speaks up! “I paid the price! I am the payment for him!” He is our atoning sacrifice for all our sins, for the sins of the whole world!

Although all sin has been paid for by him it is important to note that the payment for our sin is not credited to our account with our creator unless/until we embrace him in faith. But what a wonderful reality! The currency of the transaction that brings us eternal life speaks on our behalf before the judge of all humanity!

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

 

 

Worship for Today: God releases us from Satan and sin!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 5:18-19,

“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”

John points out something that almost everyone senses or feels: there is something wrong with the world. He tells us it is under the control of the evil one! It is not only that people in general are rebellious, sinful, separated and estranged from God, they are under the control of God’s enemy, Satan.

Years ago Bob Dylan wrote a Christian song called “Gotta Serve Somebody”. In the chorus is the refrain, “you’re gonna have to serve somebody”. The truth of this is born out by John here in this passage. We are either a child of God or under the control of Satan, “the evil one”. John’s tells us that as children of God we are released from the control of Satan. We do not “continue to sin”. Paul puts it this way in Romans 6:17-18, “thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”

“You’re gonna have to serve somebody.” How wonderful that we have been released from the realm and the power of control of Satan. John says God keeps us safe! In the remaining verses of Romans 6 Paul goes on to say, “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“You’re gonna have to serve somebody.” How wonderful God provides us an opportunity through the gospel to be freed from the tyranny of Satan and sin to enjoy the freedom to serve our wonderful loving, kind and compassionate 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: God's love for his children

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 5:2,

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God…”

What grips my heart this morning is that we become children of God when we embrace Jesus Christ in faith. Not just disciples or followers or students or “devotees”. Nothing new here but to considerate it afresh never ceases to amaze me.

Having had three daughters I know what it is to have children. I will never forget the moment I first picked up and held my first daughter, Amy. Feelings of love, protection, delight, a sense of caring and concern for a little life that was entirely dependant on her mother and me… a lot of love there. When Becky and Beth were born I had the same feelings as I picked each of them up for the first time (and the many times after that). These are moments that a parent just never forgets.

What does our heavenly Father feel as he brings us into his family? Does he feel these same emotions? My perspective is that the feelings we have as parents, the love we have for our children comes from God as we are made in his image. Shattered and tattered as we have become in our sinful condition these are still the vestiges that remain within us as we are created in God’s image. I suspect us parents feel these things we do for our children because they mirror what our loving heavenly Father feels for us. And this is why he calls us his children.

 

I sense John’s astonishment as he considers this same thing in his mind as he writes, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1. From what I glean in the pages of Scripture God’s emotions are stirred the same way as ours are when we embrace our children.

It was his love for us that he made it possible for us to be born into his family. In 1 John 4:10 we read, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” As his children we bring delight to him, “The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Psalm 147:11. “For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.” Particularly interesting to me is a comment in Proverbs 3:12, “The Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” And as we face death we are told, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Psalms 116:15.

As I say, I stand amazed and astonished that our Creator God holds us in his hearts just as we hold our children in our own hearts. This is why he calls us his children. How wonderful and what grace this is that we should be called the children of God and to have such a place in his heart!

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 2:9-11,

“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”

As we are born into God’s family we receive what the Scriptures call “eternal life”. It is called “eternal” as a reference to time. We will live forever with God and one another in his kingdom. But many commentators point out there is a fuller understanding in the Scriptures as to what is represented in this term “eternal life”. Since we know that those who do not embrace Jesus Christ in faith will suffer an eternity apart from God, they live forever as well. “Eternal life” speaks to a quality of life, as well as duration of life, that will be lived now and for all eternity. A life of joy with our Creator, in the resurrection deliverance from suffering, pain and death, no sorrow, sharing in the inheritance of Jesus Christ together with him There are many wonderful things to understand as we speak of eternal life.

In 1 John 2:9-11, John speaks of one great aspect of the eternal life we now possess. We no longer walk around in “darkness”. We have been quickened to spiritual things and now begin to recognize spiritual realities that we had not been able to comprehend before. We begin to live “in the light” of a newly acquired perception. We begin to see the things we used to stumble over without seeing before. On a positive side, one sure one that John points to is that if we live in the light we love our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

With our new life in Jesus Christ we now have new spiritual acuity, new dimensions of perception and insight. Paul calls this becoming a “new creation” in 2 Corinthians 5:17. How wonderful our God provides us 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