John 15:18-26
Persecution.
"The act or practice of persecuting; especially, the infliction of loss, pain, or death for adherence to a particular creed or mode of worship."
Jesus prepared His disciples for what would happen next. Once Christ was crucified, they too would be hated and hunted by religious leaders, men who were convinced that they were keeping the law. The persecution would spread beyond the religious community and soon, the government would also see them as criminals. Believers would be stoned to death, beheaded, crucified, used as human torches because they trusted in Christ.
The story of one man's persecution, Stephan, is found in Acts 6:9-7:60. He was seized after false accusations were made against him. Stephan's answer to his accusers is a beautiful recitation of God's work in the lives of the patriarchs and His chosen people - Israel. His words are accepted up until the point where the rejection of Christ, His betrayal and murder are laid at the feet of the religious leaders. The leaders, cut to the heart, take Stephan out of the city and stone him. We are told that Stephan was full of the Holy Spirit, and though being persecuted even to death, he called on God, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin."
"A servant is not greater than his master", Jesus had shared. Stephan, the servant of Christ, was treated as his Master. He was falsely accused, and murdered. And like his Master, he also asked God to forgive those persecuting him.
As much as joy and the love of Christ are part of a believer's life, so is persecution. We should expect it - Christ told us it was coming!
"Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
JOY - Jesus, Others and You!
John 15:11-17
Years ago a friend gave me a necklace with a pendant that had three small pictures enameled on it. The first one was a cross - to represent Jesus. The second was a group of people- to represent others, and the third was a single person - meant to represent you. It was a picture of the acrostic for JOY - Jesus, Others, then You.
Faith in Christ and obedience to His command to abide in Him produces the fruit of joy in our lives. Joy is different than happiness. Happy is determined by our circumstances, as they change so do the feelings of happiness. Joy is a gladness that lasts even through troubled times. I think of happiness as an emotion that is trying to be joy, without abiding in Christ! To know joy, we must put Jesus first!
Christ then directs us to love one another as He loved us. How exactly did He love us? "...in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) He didn't love us because we were worthy of love. This is usually our measurement for loving, "Is this person worthy of my love?", "Should I spend my time caring for someone that may never love me in return?". Jesus loved us, even though He knew that we were unworthy, and that many would never love Him in return - never care that He died for their sins. This is the kind of love we are called to have for others, a selfless love.
And last on the acrostic - you. Christ only asks that we abide in Him, and in doing that He will give us the strength to love selflessly as He's commanded. We will bear the "fruit" of the Spirit; love, JOY, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Our part in the "you" of joy is very small, but if we don't do our part and abide in Him then we will never experience the joy that He wants us to have!
Years ago a friend gave me a necklace with a pendant that had three small pictures enameled on it. The first one was a cross - to represent Jesus. The second was a group of people- to represent others, and the third was a single person - meant to represent you. It was a picture of the acrostic for JOY - Jesus, Others, then You.
Faith in Christ and obedience to His command to abide in Him produces the fruit of joy in our lives. Joy is different than happiness. Happy is determined by our circumstances, as they change so do the feelings of happiness. Joy is a gladness that lasts even through troubled times. I think of happiness as an emotion that is trying to be joy, without abiding in Christ! To know joy, we must put Jesus first!
Christ then directs us to love one another as He loved us. How exactly did He love us? "...in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) He didn't love us because we were worthy of love. This is usually our measurement for loving, "Is this person worthy of my love?", "Should I spend my time caring for someone that may never love me in return?". Jesus loved us, even though He knew that we were unworthy, and that many would never love Him in return - never care that He died for their sins. This is the kind of love we are called to have for others, a selfless love.
And last on the acrostic - you. Christ only asks that we abide in Him, and in doing that He will give us the strength to love selflessly as He's commanded. We will bear the "fruit" of the Spirit; love, JOY, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Our part in the "you" of joy is very small, but if we don't do our part and abide in Him then we will never experience the joy that He wants us to have!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
A Vine, Branches, and Fruit!
John 15:1-10
This section of the Scripture is one of my favorite, perhaps because I love the beautiful picture Christ paints for us with His words. They remind me of the grapevines my Grandmother had planted in her back yard, full of grapes - and the jelly she would make when they were ripe!
It's easy to envision Christ as that vine - deep roots drawing nutrition up from the soil, through the branches, producing an abundance of sweet, ripe fruit.
We are compared to the vine's branches. A branch takes the nutrition from the vine and passes it on to the fruit. It also holds up the heavy clusters of fruit that the vine produces. The branches that aren't bearing fruit get pruned away, if they were left they would take away from the production of fruit - which is the purpose of the grapevine. The most beautiful branches on my Grandmother's vine were worthless if they didn't produce fruit!
They were also worthless if they didn't stay connected to the vine! Without the vine they would wither up and no nutrients would be passed on to make the fruit. In the same way, fruit will only be produced in our lives if we stay connected to the True Vine, Christ! We are to "abide" in Him - to remain... reside... dwell... to continue in the relationship...
Christ, the True Vine, loves us, His branches! He tells us to dwell right there in His love, and how can we do that? By keeping His commandments. When a lawyer asked Jesus, "What is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40)
Keeping Christ's commandments and loving like this is impossible on our own, but when we "abide", remain...reside...dwell...continue in our relationship with Christ, the sweet, ripe fruit of love will be produced! A love beyond here and now to eternity!
Which is a whole lot longer than Grandmother's jelly lasted...
This section of the Scripture is one of my favorite, perhaps because I love the beautiful picture Christ paints for us with His words. They remind me of the grapevines my Grandmother had planted in her back yard, full of grapes - and the jelly she would make when they were ripe!
It's easy to envision Christ as that vine - deep roots drawing nutrition up from the soil, through the branches, producing an abundance of sweet, ripe fruit.
We are compared to the vine's branches. A branch takes the nutrition from the vine and passes it on to the fruit. It also holds up the heavy clusters of fruit that the vine produces. The branches that aren't bearing fruit get pruned away, if they were left they would take away from the production of fruit - which is the purpose of the grapevine. The most beautiful branches on my Grandmother's vine were worthless if they didn't produce fruit!
They were also worthless if they didn't stay connected to the vine! Without the vine they would wither up and no nutrients would be passed on to make the fruit. In the same way, fruit will only be produced in our lives if we stay connected to the True Vine, Christ! We are to "abide" in Him - to remain... reside... dwell... to continue in the relationship...
Christ, the True Vine, loves us, His branches! He tells us to dwell right there in His love, and how can we do that? By keeping His commandments. When a lawyer asked Jesus, "What is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40)
Keeping Christ's commandments and loving like this is impossible on our own, but when we "abide", remain...reside...dwell...continue in our relationship with Christ, the sweet, ripe fruit of love will be produced! A love beyond here and now to eternity!
Which is a whole lot longer than Grandmother's jelly lasted...
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