In this past few days, I have been thinking about the joy, wonder, and glory of God and His promises.  It started one day with an email, and it has just bounced around in my head for several days.  It came together last night with a Facebook post that just touched my heart.

The original verse was in 1John 5.  It just reminded me what joy I have in Jesus.  The glory and wonder of this gift I have in knowing Him and having Him in my heart.

1 John 5:12-15 (ESV)

¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

The first part of that passage just thrills me – ”Whoever has the Son has life.”  It is not something we will get it is something we HAVE been given.  The next part is clear as we; the only way to obtain that is through the Son of God.  John wrote this to remind those of us that believe that we have eternal life.

The last two verses are just as powerful.  ” ¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

IF we ask in accordance with His will He hears us…  What a wonderful promise and the only caveat is it must be in accordance with His will, but that is easy to find in His Word.

Reflections

I pondered over that passage for a while not because I questioned it but because of the peace and joy it brought to me, and at the same time the desire to share it with others, because of the second half of verse 12 – “whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  That is a serious issue.  See I was one of those people.  I knew who God was, but I was arrogant.  I fit in with a passage from James.

James 2:19 (ESV)

¹⁹ You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

The only difference is that I was not smart enough to shudder.  I was whiskey bent, and hell bound and thought I was a “Good Person” and would go to heaven.  In truth, I was a foolish person.  But today I am so thankful and am filled with this wonderful news.  God snatched me from my selfish ways and showed me the truth of freedom in Him.

I ended up looking at some scriptures over the past few days.  I began in Romans

Romans 8

I began in Romans 8 beginning with verse 12. Paul was speaking of the debt that we owed and to whom.   He spoke of the gifts we have received through our redemption.  My heart nearly jumps out of my chest as I read it.

Romans 8:12-17 (ESV)

¹² So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

I am a child of God.  Adopted as a son.  I know this because the Holy Spirit Himself bears witness with my spirit that I am a child of God.  I am speechless when I consider this gift and the price paid not only for my freedom from sin but my salvation and eternal life.   It makes the meaning of the next verse in this chapter so clear.

Romans 8:18 (ESV)

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Some days it is hard to speak.  Some days my balance does not work and sometimes my head throbs but in all that I still have Jesus.  In all that I still am dancing on the inside regardless of what my shell may be experiencing, and I am filled with Joy and thanksgiving.  I cannot fathom what it would be like without Jesus.  I am thankful that I do not have to experience that kind of life.  I pray that others may be freed from that prison.

From Romans, I went to Peter.  I love how the Holy Spirit impacted Peter.  I love his letters.

1 Peter

I began in 1 Peter chapter 3.  Peter spoke of the kind of person we should strive to be.

1 Peter 3:8-13 (ESV)

⁸ Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. ⁹ Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. ¹⁰ For

“Whoever desires to love life

and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from speaking deceit;

¹¹ let him turn away from evil and do good;

let him seek peace and pursue it.

¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

¹³ Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

Now I read this passage, and I am reminded that the world is looking for an excuse to hate me and point out my hypocrisy.  I know I have been goaded by people to try and make me argue and get angry, but there is not any value in that.  When I was of the world, I used intimidation and anger to get my way.  But nowhere do we see Jesus intimidate, even in those final hours before the cross.

For me, anger was often a response to fear.  You startle or threaten the old me I got angry.  I like what Jesus said about fear in Matthew.

Matthew 10:28 (ESV)

²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

I think that kind of says it all, don’t you?  No one can do that, but God and my hope is in Him.  I am a child of God…

2Peter

From 1 Peter I went to 2 Peter.  I cannot help but think about the soon return of Christ and balance that against all that are still lost.  I wish for Him to return now, but in the same breath I wish for more time to share Gods Word, and I ended up in Chapter 3 of 2 Peter.

2 Peter 3:8-13 (ESV)

⁸ But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

  ¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹² waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

What a beautiful passage.  Peter reminds us that all things come in God time.  His desire is for all to come to repentance.  I thought it was interesting that he said repentance instead of any other words like salvation or Jesus.  The more I thought about it, the more sense it made.  Repentance is so important, but sometimes folks overlook that word for others.

Repentance

As I reread 2 Peter 3:9 this morning several other passages about repentance came to mind.  First was Peter in Luke 5.  Several were fishing with Jesus in the boat, and they fish all night without catching a fish.  Jesus told them to put their nets in the deeper water, and they would catch fish, and the catch was so big that they nearly sank the boat and another that came to help.  Peter realized the truth of Jesus and said the following:

Luke 5:8 (ESV)

⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Peter saw the power and glory of God in Jesus and his wretchedness and could not bear it.  But Jesus told him not to be afraid.  The other that comes to mind always is in Isaiah 6.

Isaiah 6:5 (ESV)

⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

This too is so powerful.  Isaiah is cleansed when a hot coal is touched to his lips.  It blows me away how both these men came to realize how unworthy they were and when they realized it they were forgiven.

They realized, probably for the first time, how great God was and how small they were.  It happened for me at a very difficult time when I had no clue how to proceed and I threw myself at God’s feet and he changed the world for me; at least my world.  I will never stop being thankful for that.

Peter led me to Revelation 3

Revelation 3

Thinking of God’s timing from Peter I thought of Laodicea.  Laodicea gets the harshest of reprimands of the seven churches.  But even so they are not left without hope.  Every time I read this passage in Revelation I am reminded of the Glory of God.  He is just, and He does not hold back His reprimand, but he tells them what they must do to escape judgment.

Revelation 3:15-22 (ESV)

¹⁵ “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. ¹⁹ Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ²¹ The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

How amazing is our God?  He reminds them that He reproves those that he loves and asks them to be zealous and repent.  He does not leave it there He tells them what is in store for them if they do.  My heart is filled with joy as I read this passage.

Closing Thoughts

Our God is an awesome God.  If we truly believe we have eternal life.  His plan is very specific.  It is not multiple choice.  I like the way Paul says it in Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2:4-10 (ESV)

⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

What a gift we have been given and what an opportunity we have been given to serve with these good works that He laid out for us that we should walk in them not to be saved but because we have been saved.  I am filled with this overwhelming joy and thanksgiving.

Prayer

Father, thank you for all you are.  Lord, it is hard to find words that say more than that.  I am thankful that you have drawn near to me and given me this hope and joy that comes from knowing and loving you.  In Jesus name, I pray, amen!