Finding Favor with God

That's the basic idea. Now, for a question. Is finding favor with God something that is simply a part of being a Christian? That is, do all Christians find favor with God? The answer, it seems to me, is clear enough. No, they don't. Remember that Mary didn't live in a pagan culture. She lived among the people of God, the Church of her day. But it was Mary who found favor with God. She distinguished herself. There was something about her that was different from so many of the others. Likewise, today, there are Christians who, because of some quality about their lives, distinguish themselves from so many of the people of God. That gets noticed by God, and they find favor with Him. So, just to be clear, God loves all of His children equally. But some do distinguish themselves from the rest. He notices that, and He responds favorably toward them.

from Mary

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So, what do you do with all of this? Consider that genealogy. Think about Salmon or Achim. Their claim to fame is that they and their wives produced babies. And that's it. But God used that ordinary part of life to do something amazing. History will not remember you or me. After a few generations, all we'll be are some letters on a tombstone. We are just ordinary people. Relish that. And relish the thought that God is using your ordinariness. He is using the ordinariness of your day-to-day life. He is using you - ordinary you - to do something amazing. Your life - as ordinary as it is - matters. Enjoy that. And then, relax. And so that you can relax, refuse to give in to the world. It's the world that's trying to push you to become anything but ordinary. It's the world that's trying to get you to want to be someone famous. And aiming for that fame, even in little ways, is so frustrating. It's also very draining. You're not going to be the next Very Important Person. So, don't try. If God drops that into your lap, fine. But until then, relax. Don't be like the world. The people of the world are like that because they do not know the real God, the real God who takes ordinary people and makes them important just by their being ordinary. Those other gods are fake. They are just different disguises that Satan uses. And no good comes from listening to him. All he can do is destroy. And that is what we are seeing more and more these days. So, fight the world and the pressures of the world. Don't conform to what they are chasing.

from Ordinary

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Let me tell you why I preached this sermon in the way that I have. My reason might surprise you. I want you to be happy. That may sound out of place, but it's the truth. I want you happy but with a happiness that is honest and a happiness that is lasting. I want you to be happy with a happiness that is rooted in reality. The happiness of way too many these days is rooted in lies. It's a kind of happiness that tries to hide from reality. And for that reason it doesn't satisfy. It's here, and then it's gone. But the hard things of life still remain. What good is that kind of fleeting happiness? We live in a world that is broken. A world where there are terrible things like destructive tornadoes. How shall we respond to that? There is a kind of happiness that comes from following Jesus. It is a happiness that acknowledges the evil. But it also sees that the evil is in the hands of someone who loves us. We see that the evil is part of His plan for good. There are plenty of times when this happiness is bittersweet. There is a time for tears. But underneath all of that is this note of happiness. It may be happiness that is muted. But it is there. And one day it will be full and rich and without even one tear - except for tears of ecstatic happiness. One day Jesus will be here again. And there will be no more evil. None! Until then, we trust Him as well as we can, asking for more trust. And as we see the growth of our trust in Him and the growth of our understanding of what He is up to in this broken world, we experience this deeper, more honest happiness.

from 'Thank You'

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Now, why is having more of the Spirit a good thing? First, that's good for you. There's lots of debate about some of what the Spirit does. But everyone agrees that the Spirit is all about Jesus. Whatever else the Spirit does, He changes disciples so that they become more like Jesus. Think about Jesus and how He acted. Think about the wisdom that He displayed. Think about His awareness of God. All of those qualities are increasingly yours as the Spirit changes you. Life is hard. There is much evil all around us, and all too often that evil touches us. How do you deal with that? Well, how did Jesus deal with that? Jesus dealt with it all so very well, and He was able to do that because of the presence of the Spirit with Him. So, more of the Spirit is good for you because you will become more like Jesus and be able to live well.

But it's also good for another reason. Our having more of the Spirit makes Jesus look good. One result of our being changed by the Spirit is that it is proof to the world that Jesus is real. Words about the great power of the Gospel without living proof of that power are almost worthless. The world needs to see the proof. If the Gospel is true, it should be able to show it. What is needed these days are more churches where the power of the Spirit to change lives is evident. So, pursuing loving obedience so that you might enjoy more of the Spirit is an act of worship - wanting to make Jesus look good - and an act of evangelism - offering proof to unbelievers that Jesus is real. 

from If You Love Me

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And we can be very optimistic about reaching this goal [of unity]. Jesus gives another promise related to doing this greater work.

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Jesus isn't giving a general promise about our prayers. He is talking about this greater work that we are to do. So, overcoming the sometimes large obstacles to loving one another and being of one mind and all the rest is possible because Jesus promises to grant our prayers for success in these things. And I suspect one thing that will happen in response to prayers like this is that Jesus will grant us more of the presence of the Spirit to expose and remove sin and replace it with a holy love that unites.

from Greater Works

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Jesus is also the life. As I've told you before, this idea of life is so much more than whether your heart is still beating. This is about the life of God. Before there was a creation, God was enjoying this life. That is, the Father and the Son and the Spirit were enjoying each other in relationships that went deep - no walls, no secrets, complete openness because of love. When Adam and Eve were created, the plan was for them and their descendants to become a part of that divine community and to enjoy the life of God, to enjoy something of those deep relationships. That's life. Sin messed that up. So, when our first parents were excluded from the Garden, they were also excluded from the life of God. That's death. Lots of people are dead even while their hearts are beating. But Jesus has come, as the life, the life of God, to fix that. He has come to rescue you from death. He has come so that all might be restored to the divine community, so that all can enjoy the life of God. He has come to rescue from walls and secrets and anything less than the full enjoyment of perfect love. He is life.

from Jesus, the Way

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So, what will be so good about being there? To be sure, there will be lots to do, lots of very enjoyable and satisfying things to do. But there is a way of thinking about that so that the beauty of the place does not shine. There are lots of very enjoyable and satisfying things to do here. So, what will be so different about there? I want to talk about childhood. And I want to talk about a carefree childhood. Not every child has a carefree childhood, but I'm going to guess that most of you did. So, consider the carefree life of a young child. He is unaware of so much. He doesn’t think about making sure that there will be something for dinner. He doesn't think about the need to provide a place to live. He doesn't think about any bills. A young child getting up some sunny, summer day simply thinks about what fun things he wants to do. And as he does these fun things he can be quite carefree about it all. So, there is no to-do list that taps him on the shoulder from time to time to remind him of something waiting to be done. There is no sense of being responsible for someone else. There are no important long-term goals that need to be planned for and achieved. He's a young child simply enjoying his world. Adults are not like that, even when they escape for some vacation time. There seems to always be that weight of responsibility and those reminders of things to do. That weight and those reminders will be gone in the new heavens and new earth. Gone. So, what's left? A carefree life. Imagine, every day: no deadlines, no obligations, no to-do lists. Just a life of enjoying people and doing fun things. A carefree life. A very satisfying life. So, the very character of life then will be so different from what it is now. And that, it seems to me, is one thing that will be so very good about being there. 

from A Place Prepared

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So, what do you do now? How about this? Don't wait for some big crisis to hit so you can try to trust Jesus. Trust Him in the little crises. These are things that are a part of everyday life. Your well-laid plans for the day are completely upended when one of your kids comes down with a stomach bug or someone you were depending on doesn't come through, or any of a multitude of things that make your life that much more difficult. And there you are in the resulting chaos trying to figure out what Plan B might be. You have a choice. 'Do I trust Him now?' Choosing to trust Him will lead to peace, real peace, the peace that only Jesus can give. The situation may still be troubling, but you will be able to make your way through it. So, this is what you do. Pray. That is always key. Pray that you will be able to trust Him in the little, everyday crises so that you will be prepared to trust Him when some big crisis comes along.

from 'Not Troubled'

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Peter's life is an example to us. There are lessons here. So, for one thing, you're not as bad as you might think. Yes, your sin has twisted up so many things about you, but there is still good in there. Peter really did love Jesus when he made his bold declaration. To be sure, it was a love that needed to be purified. But it was a real love, a love that Jesus built on. The same is true of you. You have been told through the years that you are so bad. You’ve been told that there is so much wrong with you. And you've believed that. And I have to admit that I have contributed to that problem. But hasn't the Spirit changed you? Isn't that at the heart of what it means to be a Christian? Isn't that why Peter could honestly declare his love for Jesus? There is much good in who you are, much good that the Spirit has brought about. So, when you think about yourself, the stress should not be on what's wrong with you. That would be buying into Satan's lie. The stress should be on what is right with you, what's good. After all, you're one of God's saints, one of His holy ones, right? You have been made into good people because of Jesus. So, don't accept Satan's lie and tell yourself that you are such a terrible person, such an awful sinner. That would be true if you weren't a Christian. But you are a Christian. So, there is good in you because of Jesus. That's the Gospel. Believe it. 

from Peter

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Here’s the point. We are to love one another. And we are to do that in the same way Jesus did. We follow His lead. His loving us included laying down His life. And that's how we are to love one another.  We are to lay down our lives so that we can love one another. So, you see, Jesus has given us the model to follow, not just in terms of the kinds of things we are to do, like washing feet. He has given us a model to follow when it comes to how to do that, the costliness of that love. Jesus calls us not just to do loving things. He calls us to die so that we can love others well.

from A New Command

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There are all the things that you can see. Then, there is all that you can't see. You can see a mother caring for her child, some guy shooting innocent people, a coach encouraging his team, politicians passing laws and others breaking them. But that is not all of reality. It's only part of the picture. You need the rest of the picture to really grasp reality. Jesus also saw how knowing becomes wisdom, why God blesses some and not others, where His culture got it right and where it got it wrong. Those are also parts of reality, but parts that you can't see with your eyes. You need to see the whole picture if you're going to grasp reality. Jesus could see reality, all of reality. That was His protection. You need to follow His lead. You need to see all of reality. That is your protection.

from Seeing Reality

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We are in the same boat as Peter. We live in a culture that has certain values and habits, and some of them are good and right, and others aren't. So, what we need to do is evaluate them so that we can fit into the new culture that Jesus has established. And that is actually quite difficult. Think about some of the cultural habits that you follow. Some of them have been with you for longer than you can remember. You have grown up with them. They feel so normal. In fact, you probably don't even see many of them. But you have to evaluate them. Refusing to have Jesus wash his feet felt so right to Peter. But it was wrong. He needed some help evaluating this attitude of his culture.

So, how does one go about evaluating his culture? If you're going to do that you'll need something to compare those habits and values to - a standard. That's the Bible. It describes the habits and values that Jesus approves - and doesn't. Jesus critiqued the culture of His day, approving some things and rejecting others. We need to do the same with the culture of our day. But understand what will result from that evaluation. There will be conflict, a conflict between cultures. There will be the culture that is being developed within the Church and the culture of the surrounding world. And these will strongly disagree at some very important points. Again, think Jesus and the Pharisees. It's the Church against the world.

from Culture

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I'm going to close with a question that I hope you will take to heart. And the question is this: are you being blessed? Do you see that happening in your life? Are you knowing more and thus doing more so that you are seeing God blessing you more? Compare you today with the you of a few years back. Are you dealing with life better now? Is it making more sense? Are you understanding better who God is, who you are and what life is about? To be sure, for all of us, there is so much more to know and do, but are you seeing progress? If you are, then give thanks and continue to know and do so that you can be blessed even more. If you aren't seeing progress you really should ask yourself why.

from Knowing, Doing, Blessed

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Why is this important? It's important because in this text Jesus presents Himself as an example. One of the reasons Jesus came was so that He could be an example of what living well looks like. Jesus wanted those Twelve - and He wants all of you - to imitate Him. Your imitation of Him goes much further than being servants to each other. You are also to imitate Him when it comes to knowing. Just like Jesus, you are able to know things about yourself, your calling and what your God is doing with you. You can know.  

from Knowing

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So, it is the nature of the Church to be a group of people who are serving each other. We are all to serve according to our Spirit-given abilities, according to our situations, according to our callings. Differences in serving will abound, and those differences will make our church work all the better.

from The Servant God

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Do you see what I've done? I started with Jesus' promise to all who believe in Him. All who come to Jesus are sons of light. And that means that you are sons of light. That is a fact of the Gospel. Because it is a fact, it is true of each of you, individually. Each of you is a reflection of Jesus. And that is something to believe and to relish. It is a reason to be very hopeful - very optimistic. This fact of the Gospel also affects us together, as a Church. As we live as sons of light we will have fellowship with each other. Friendships will develop and blossom and deepen. There will be some serious bonds holding us together. As a result, we will be able to shine brightly as the light of the world, the Church. There's the sermon in a paragraph.

from Sons of Light

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There is something in the Apostles' Creed that relates here: 'I believe in the holy, catholic church.' (I'll leave explaining 'holy' and 'catholic' for another time.) That sentence explains something of what you are to do. You are to believe in the Church. That is, you are to believe what this part of the Bible has to say about Jesus' Church and His intentions for it. You are to believe in the Church as the body of Christ and the place where the Spirit is busy restoring people. You are to believe in the Church as the place where you have a role to play in the lives of these other people and they have a role to play in yours. Believe in the Church that Jesus has created by the Gospel.

from Being the Church

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And so, He has created us with a built-in purpose. Our lives are to reveal Him as He really is, the self-centered God who is the heartbeat of life. As we know Him and enjoy Him as the kind of God that He is, as we live according to reality, we will glorify Him. We will make Him look as good as He really is. We will show others that God is the heartbeat of life. Jesus understood that. He understood that revealing God in this way is the purpose of living. And that's why He prayed in the way that He did as He faced the pushback of evil. That's why He prayed that the Father would be glorified by the pain that He would suffer.

from Glorifying the Father

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The attitude of every disciple is to be the same as Jesus' attitude. He didn't love His life.

So, the persistent prayer of a disciple goes something like this. 'Father, my life is Yours, to do with as You wish. I want to obey Your will for my life, whatever that might be. Help me to do that.' The particular words of your prayer might be different but not the attitude. It is not possible to be a disciple of Jesus and refuse to offer this kind of prayer. This is what following Jesus is about. It's about not loving your life.

from Hating Your Life

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Wisdom isn't about the ability to make a hard decision. As it is used in the Bible, wisdom is understanding how life works. It's about understanding who God is and what He does. It also includes understanding people, other people as well as yourself. And there is the overlap of these two categories: how God interacts with people and they with Him. Being wise is having a measure of understanding into all these various dynamics. It's understanding how life works. And being wise is important because the insight that it provides makes living well a possibility. So, being wise is not about how to make difficult decisions. Being wise is about how to live. It's about how to navigate relationships. It's about understanding why you do what you do, both the things that lead to your happiness as well as the things that get you into trouble. It's about knowing what to expect, knowing what God is going to do next. Being wise is about living and living well.

from Gaining Wisdom