EMOTIONAL FREEDOM

Text:  Galatians 5:13-26

Life by the Spirit

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[c] you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Why Emotions?

God created us in His likeness, equipped with full set of emotions.  God designed it that way to make us enjoy the richness of life.  (God… richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment - 1 Timothy 6:17) It is indeed a blessing since emotion is the way freedom is being fully expressed.  When God bestowed on us the liberty to make choices, He twined our freedom with feelings or emotions.  Aren’t we glad, we can make decisions and, we can build awesome relationships through them?  Out of emotions, we grow, we express, we learn, we become wise, we create, we change and we become better and better every single day.

The Bible is a book of emotions. It is full of real life stories that display various kind of emotions.  It gives us lot of lessons on the effect of emotions and how we can make use of them to glorify God.  In the Bible, we should learn that LOVE is the strongest and most powerful emotion that ever exists in the entire universe (1 John 4:8 God is Love, 1 Corinthians 13:13 … but the greatest of these is LOVE.)

Imagine life without emotions. A movie without display of feelings will never be as beautiful as we expect them to be.  Aurora of various feelings is the very soul of a movie so it should not dull but colorful, interesting and exciting. The actors and actresses who exhibit emotions that have the pull to drag the viewers into imagining that they are part of the story are mostly gaining much popularity. And the movie will eventually sell out.

Emotion is the soul’s media of communicating.  Most of the time, it doesn’t need utterance of words.  Mere facial expression, actions and gestures will suffice to show what our soul needs to say.  Emotion is the power that lies within a person’s being.  Like most of the fictional heroes in the stories who had just discovered that they have supernatural powers and took time to know and learn how to use it against their opponents (usually dark forces of evil), we also need to study and familiarize those emotions residing within us, understand how they work, and train ourselves to tame them and gain full control over them, so that we will no longer be their prisoners, but us, using them for good deeds.

The Downsides of Emotions

The people nowadays are encouraged to take decisions based on feelings.  They are usually asked how they feel about a certain issue and conclude based on common and prevailing feelings.  One Toastmaster Rule says that evaluating a speech should be on the basis of how the audiences feel about the performance of the speaker.  When the church leader raises an issue concerning the congregation, he doesn’t ask anything else than how the members feel about the issue and renders decisions on that bases.

The question is, can we really rely on feelings?  Can we judge based on mere emotions? Do we need to react because we feel something about a situation or a person?  We commonly call baseless feelings as intuition, hunch, suspicion, or presumption.  Relying on emotions sometimes pushes us in a compromising position. There’s this saying in Filipino that goes, “Maraming napapahamak sa maling akala” or in English, “Many were put in danger because of wrong presumptions.”  Another saying goes, “Ang naniniwala sa sabi-sabi, walang bait sa sarili.” Translated in English as, “Those who believe in baseless notions or gossips have no goodness left for themselves.”  We should be warned the emotions are treacherous so extra care should be observed in letting emotions go off.  Remember Jesus words in Matthew 26:41 “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”  Even spiritual strength does not guarantee proper emotional control.

As I said earlier, our freedom is twined with emotion. Freedom won’t stand by itself but has to be exercised by choosing the feelings we have to elicit, which in turn determines the action we have to perform. This is the reality that the Apostle Paul was pointing out in Galatians 5:13  ^“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh.”

Considering that emotion is the means of communication of the soul, emotion dominates the flesh.  Our flesh is like a mascot, animated by our soul.  The condition of the soul directs a signal to our physical body to act accordingly.  So, whenever we feel angry, we often become aggressive and worst, destructive.   Whenever we feel lustful, we most likely fall into impurity and worst, immorality.   Whenever we feel threatened, we become violent or be defensive at some extent.  We literally indulge our fleshly desires as our emotions may feed.  At times, giving in to our emotions may lead to harm.

Galatians 5:13

If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

There is a psychological phenomenon among humans characterized by abnormal generation false perceptions about the world.  It is called, “Delusion”.  One example of it is the Delusion of Persecution.  The person suffering from this abnormality feels like everyone is talking bad about him and wanting to inflict pains on him. He presumes that all people are always focused on him, accusing, blaming, and laughing at him.    He usually feels the strong urge to protect himself so often times, he resort to aggression against others.  Either he will destroy the reputation of his subject by creating unwarranted gossips, or he will plot to harm him physically. 

Another example is the Delusion of Contamination.  A person suffering from this abnormality feels the strong compulsion to maintain cleanliness, thus frequently washes his hands and applying alcohol when it is actually not necessary.

Delusions are strongly associated with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.  This means that they become slaves or prisoners of their own emotions.  They can no longer control their obsessions, and these uncontrollable feelings often lead them to their own destruction and they are known to drag others into their pit.

We may not have the extreme abnormality like that of a mentally deranged person but we have our own emotional weakness to compete with and win over. Galatians 5:19-21 clearly enumerates some tendencies:

  

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

When we lose control of our emotions, we fall into any of these tendencies, depending on where we are weak at.  Satan uses our weaknesses to carry out his evil plans.  He will make us weaker and weaker until we become delusional.   In our text today, there was a warning from Apostle Paul:

Galatians 5:21

I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Consistently giving-in to our fleshly desires may result to gradual spiritual death. By heaping any of those negative emotions, our hearts will slowly become numb to its effect until it totally hardens, and eventually forfeiting our share in the Kingdom of God. This is what the writer of Hebrew intended to tell us:

Hebrews 3:12

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” 

So let us completely be aware that although emotion is a blessing from God, it has also sufficient power to drag our feet to hell if unbridled.

The Opposing Forces of Flesh and Spirit

Emotions are cues that tell us whether we are well or sickly.  “Feelings” prompt us to seek for healing; physically or spiritually. Physically, we take medicine or consult a physician to solve the problem.  Spiritually, we seek God, the source of ultimate healing. 

Sadly, we sometimes fall into wrong belief that a certain act may appease and satisfy our emotions.  We resort into wrong decisions in our attempt to solve the problem.  We often times don’t really mind whether our decision is in contrary to good principles, ethics and rules of conduct.  We just simply need to satisfy our craving emotions.  Drug addicts and alcoholic persons fell into this trap. 

Say for instance, we are angry at one of our brethren; we presume that confronting him infront others can quench your burning desire to retaliate.  And, when we finally accomplished it, our flesh tends to be cheering in victory and pride.  “Whoaaah!  I feel better now!  I hope he learned his lesson.”  But, how about our spirit?  Do you think our spirit rejoice together with our flesh? Not at all!  The flesh and spirit always oppose each other.  When our emotion says, “Go ahead, do it!” the spirit, who is working through our conscience says, “Hold it! Think about the consequence first!”  

Galatians 5: 16-18

 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.   For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Feelings tend to go wild while the spirit is always rational because it belongs to God. The Spirit of God gave birth to our spirit during our baptism, just as Jesus discussed in John 3:5-7

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'

Whether we like it or not, our spirit is a portion of God’s own Spirit.   We are connected to Him by a very special bond – Jesus Christ, the only one mediator between the Father and mankind.  He entrusted this spirit to us, for us to keep it pure and let it grow until it attains the fullness of Jesus Christ. 

Ephesians 4:11-13 

“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of God.”

Like a baby inside the womb who is drawing food and nutrients from the mother through the umbilical cord, our spirit draws spiritual food and nutrients from God through our union with Him in Christ.  The strength given by the Holy Spirit is what we will use to tame and master our emotions; hence we become victorious over our flesh and eventually realize our Emotional Freedom.  How does emotional freedom works?  In Galatians 5:22-23, it says,

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.“

Wow! These are all positive emotions meant to regulate or even quench the desires of the flesh. A person who skillfully utilizes these emotions possesses emotional maturity.   Bear in mind that we, as disciples, are destined to champion our passions and desires; we are destined to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. 

There is no rule to follow when we display positive emotions.  No one will stop you from being joyful because there’s no law that says, “Do not display JOY in public.”

Galatians 5:24-25

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 

Emotional Freedom works when our passions and desires are already enslaved by our spirit.  It needs constant practice to be able to attain this state of freedom.  It requires our constant obedience to Christ who called us to imitate Him.   Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Our Lord was truthful when he said He is gentle and humble in heart.  And He summoned us to imitate Him.

Galatians 5:24-25

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Through this verse, Paul eventually ends up the chapter by impressing his points again.  Paul simply reminded the Church of Galatia to watch out and examine how they treat one another.  That was a call for them to build good relationships with one another, free from arrogance, nagging and insecurities. 

Emotions are object-oriented.  It is stimulated by somebody, if not by our own selves.  Emotion is required to build a relationship but it has the potential to break it as well.  The problem usually is not springing up from the emotions we give ourselves for it is already widely accepted that our love for ourselves is much more than anyone else.  Our emotion for others is what we need to examine and check whether it is making our relationships healthy or it is causing our relationships to tragically crumble.  Strife sparks so easily among us because we are storing ill feelings against one another.  The unforgiving attitude stores up bad memories and unpleasant past encounters with our brothers or sisters deep within our hearts.  And, because grudges rule our thoughts, we tend to have bias perception about them, hating everything in them, criticizing them whenever we have the opportunity to do so, and envying them when we see them prospering.  The worst thing that will happen is that we become hostile if we no longer contain our ill feelings. 

Signs of Emotional Freedom

We need life-time practice to be able to control our feelings and attain Emotional Freedom.  And we need to know what Emotional Freedom is like through the following descriptions:

a)     Emotional Responsibility  

·        Thinks “I can” and “We Can”, rather than “You”.   

·        Takes initiative and does not expect others to do the first move. 

·        No blaming others but focuses only on the solution of a problem.

b)  Emotional Honesty   

·        Willingness to admit his feelings in a peaceful and constructive manner. 

·        We feel upset yet should remain calm and reasonable.

·        We can be angry but remain composed.  (Ephesians 4:26 In your anger do not sin)

c)   Emotional Openness  

·        Willingness to share, teach, and show care. 

·        Willingness to accept corrections and learn.

d)   Emotional Assertiveness   

·        Expressing ourselves whenever we need to, but in a proper and diplomatic way. 

·        Persistence to achieve targets and goals.

·        Trust justice to roll-out and does not take matters in his hand.

·        Stands on and do what is right without wavering.

e)  Emotional Understanding

·        Being sure of the effects and consequences of his actions. 

·        Recognizes and deals his negative emotions before it breaks-out and become destructive.

f)  Emotional Detachment

·        Independent and believes in his own capability

·        Deeply rooted spiritually.

·        Selflessness and focuses on how he can encourage and help others.

·        Does not need to be self-conscious but so secured of who he is; does not need to compare himself with others.

To recap, true Emotional Freedom reflects consistency, stability and strength in character, mood and disposition. Emotionally mature person is not so easily swayed by circumstances in his life.  He renders decisions based on concrete or just grounds. He is self-less and understands the needs of others.

Now is the time for us to examine our hearts.  

Draw a diagram that depicts your relationship with the people around you….. Father, Mother, Wife, Husband, Sons, Daughters, Church Mate, Neighbors and Colleagues.  

On each of the relationship lines, list down all your feelings for them.  

If something is negative, indicate the reason why. 

Make a resolution plan and initiate a talk with that person concentrating on the peaceful and fruitful settlement of this relationship issue.

Additional Readings about Emotional Expression and Maturity

• ·         1 Corinthians 13
• ·         1 Timothy 1:7
• ·         Proverbs 19:11 & 19
• ·         Proverbs 14:29
• ·         Matthew 5:19
• ·         Proverbs 25:15
• ·         Proverbs 15:1 & 18
• ·         Corinthians 9:25
• ·         Proverbs 16:22
• ·         Proverbs 25:28

MATURITY IN SPIRITUAL FOCUS

 By: Jun Taccad

Text:  Mark 6:45-56 / Matthew 14:22-32 

Being one who specialized in training and development for a large company in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, I have known that one of the most in-demand behavioral courses is building and maintaining focus. From time immemorial thought leaders emphasize that FOCUS is one of the major determinants of success, without it, there can only be uncertainty and lack of direction.  

Socrates, the great philosopher of olden times wrote something about focus:  “The Secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” 

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the first telephone, contributed in making the word “FOCUS” quite sensible when he said; “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand.  The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”

For Brian Tracy, one of the well-known Sales and Leadership gurus of our times, “The key to success is to FOCUS our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.”

Likewise, for Stephen Covey through his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, we should “Begin with the End in Mind” in order to be effective as a person. This can be paraphrased this way, “Focus first on the End-Result before you start to build something".

It is an undeniable principle that without focus, it is hard to achieve what we want to achieved.  

-       Our Solar System will not work just as fine as it is working now without that concentrated central gravity that holds all planets and spin them through their respective axis.

-       All Companies and Organizations are operating based on their respective Vision and Mission which remain as the elements that keep their unified action.  The Vision and Mission maintain their focus.

-       In gymnastics competitions, athletes usually fix their eyes straight forward to gather all the concentration they need before they finally jump into their first exhibition.

-       A painter, before he starts moving his brushes, should first close his eyes, picture what he wants to depict in his artwork, and gather up all the FOCUS he needs in order to sketch on the canvas what his imagination contains.

Indeed, there is success in being focused.

In our relationship with God, FOCUS is indispensable.   That kind of concentrated attention that will elevate our faith and spirituality.  A kind that should be moving the heart of God and impress Him.  In our FOCUS God should be highly glorified.

Psalms 105:16-22 = Joseph refused to be shaken by the trials and bad situations in his life but set his vision on the plan of God to save his family from the coming difficulties.  He chose not to be bitter, but tried to understand the plan of God for him. In this focus, he became successful and gained victory in the end.

Genesis 42:36 = Jacob, on the other hand, was greatly swayed away and devastated by focusing on his misfortunes.  He just accepted his fate and did not do anything about it but wallowed in regret.  He dwell in the belief that, “Everything is against him”. He grew old hopeless and full of worries, waiting in fear for the next misfortune to happen.  He lost his FOCUS and everyday he grew more and more helpless.

In our lives today, there are certain negative things that usually snatch our focus:

a)  Financial constraints

b)  Family situations

c)  Relationship issues with family members, spiritual brethren/relatives, colleagues at work, close friends

d)  Ministry and Evangelism concerns. Fearful or too shy to share faith with friends

e)  Physical and Psychological Insecurities

f)   Job stability, pressures in the workplace, unfriendly boss etc.

g)  Health Issues

h)  Finding someone to marry or not having a child

i)   Spiritual and emotional battles (purity, attitude, bad habits, lust, pride, laziness, self-pity, loneliness, homesickness etc.)

j)   Misperceptions of the people around (Others are better or worse than I am)

When we have all these negative things in our views and concentrate on fixing them, we become more disoriented than we can imagine. We tend to be shaken, we feel apprehensive, and eventually become hopeless, just like Jacob.  We will sink like Peter, when he set his eyes on the winds and waves, rather than keeping his sight on Jesus who has the power to control them.   

Point No. 1:  Focus on the conviction that God’s love protects us

The story in Matthew 14:22-32, points out to one reality:  at that time, the Kingdom of God was inside that boat.  The “Hope of Mankind” had been mounted in that small boat when the strong winds and storm was threatening to kill them all. 

The reason why Jesus let his disciples go first was for Him to commune with His Father.  Being an All-Knowing God, He knew beforehand that the voyage would be very dangerous because of the coming strong winds and storm.  Jesus needed to intercede with the Father for protection.

We are a small ministry here in Saudi and we are now riding on that same boat, not knowing of what is in store for us.  We can never tell whether or not it will be a dangerous journey for Desert Fires Ministry.  But, there’s one thing the Bible can assure us, GOD IS PROTECTING HIS MINISTRY.  We don’t have to worry, we just need to trust and focus on growing it.   

            Psalms 5:11 – God is our Shelter

            Psalms 23    -  Your rod and staff, they comfort me (Direction and Protection)

            Psalms 46:1 – God is our refuge and Strength, the present help in times of trouble

            Psalms 91:2  - He is my refuge and my strength

Psalm3 94:18-19 – When my foot is slipping, your love, O Lord, supported me.      When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul

This point challenges us to Trust God’s love.  It has the power to protect us and makes us successful in our ministry and all other aspects of our lives.

Point No. 2:    Focus on the things that can be seen through the eyes of Faith.

It was night time (Fourth watch of night or around 3 AM), deep darkness was covering the place, there was strong winds and storm, the disciples were struggling on the oar, fighting to go to the shore that they didn’t even know where because it was out of their view.  Sadly, there were no electric bulbs in those days but flickering lamps that cannot lit further than where they stand.  From the boat, they could only see deep darkness.  For the disciples, it was a horrible moment, not knowing what to do. They were fighting for their lives.  It was doubtful whether they were already accustomed to praying and calling upon God’s help, because at that point, they only learn the basic of prayers just as Jesus taught them few hours ago.  Most probably, they only relied on their own ways and efforts to save themselves. 

Let us go back to the Bible and check what we supposed to do when we are faced with situations wherein we our focus is affected.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18  Focus on what is unseen – the permanent and eternal. 

What are the UNSEEN THINGS that we should focus on?

ü  Matthew 6:19-20 Focus on spiritual things not on material possessions, money, properties, problems, worries, sickness.  

ü  Luke 10:27-28 =   Focus on loving God and Loving one another.

ü  Matthew 26:18-20 = building God’s Kingdom by sharing faith and discipleship, invest quality time praying and reading the Bible to gain wisdom

ü  Matthew 25:31-46 -  encourage the struggling and weak, serve and help the poor.

In the story of Maria and Martha in Luke 10:38-42, Jesus made His point that Maria, who sat at His side, listening to His teachings had chosen what is noble, while Martha who was so busy preparing food for the visitors was not commended.  Maria chose to be with Jesus – she focused on the unseen and eternal. 

So we must do the following:  

·         To know more about Jesus

·         familiarize His teachings

·         Be committed to obey God commandments

·         Be closed to Him through prayers and fasting

They saw Jesus from afar yet they thought He was a ghost.  We cannot blame them at this point.  If we existed in those days, we would believe it also as ghost.  Theirs was a superstitious generation and supernatural was very common. Since it was pure darkness, you could easily mistaking a moving white object in the middle of the water to be a ghost, so much so that they were not expecting Jesus to be walking over the deep waters, in a stormy weather and darkness of the night.  They were tremendously horrified!  So Peter, in all his daring character, decided to test Him.  Well, Peter trusted Him so well, being a witness to Jesus’ many miracles; he knew that if Jesus would invite Him, He could easily extend His power to Peter so he could also walk over the water.  To test Him was the only way to prove that they were not talking to a spirit.  To test Him was the only way to prove that they would be finally safe.

Then Peter began walking like Jesus on the water.  The seemingly impossible thing was made possible through his faith and strong determination to try and explore. Peter was known to be daring and aggressive.  In this story, his daring tendencies again showed up. Sadly, Peter had also the tendency to waiver and be easily shaken by life’s circumstance.  When his attention was stirred by the storms and waves, he started to sink.  He paid more attention to what is seen and not on the unseen power of Jesus which was at work at that moment he stepped on the waters and be able to walk.  Going back to the scripture:

ü  Hebrews 12:2-3  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…. So that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 

ü  Matthew 14:27  - Take Courage, It is I, Don’t be afraid

ü  Psalm 112:6-8   Those who focus on God will never be shaken, will have no fear of bad news, his heart is secure.

ü  Joshua 1:9 & Deuteronomy 31:6  Be strong and take courage…. For I am your God.

This point challenges us not to remove our focus on Jesus.  He is far more powerful than storms, than famine, than any strong principalities in this world.  He had overcome even the power of death.

Point No. 3: Focus on worshipping God by our obedience

And so, the story went on.  Jesus stepped into the boat to join them and the storm eventually calmed down.  There were many miracles happened in this scenario; Jesus knew that the sailing will be dangerous so He first intercede through prayers, He saw them through thick darkness rowing in the lake, He walked on waters and Peter also did, and thereafter, calmed the storm.  Do we still see Him as a mere human being or we believe that He is the Son of God? 

The seeds of the Kingdom of God, the12 disciples who were riding in that boat, eventually did their part in spreading the good news of salvation (except 1 who betrayed Him and took his own life).  Refer to the book of Acts.

Worship did not stop inside that boat.  The apostles spent the rest of their lives in faithful obedience.

ü  1 Samuel 15:22  - Obedience is better than sacrifice

ü  1^st John  5:3  - Love for God is shown through obedience of His commands

ü  John 14:15-21 - If you truly love me, obey my commands.

ü  Psalm 119:97 – Love God’s Law for it will give you wisdom to obey.

The Challenge for us through this point is to Commit ourselves to follow His commandments; the Great Commandments mentioned in Luke 10:27-28, Great Commission mentioned in Matthew 26:18-20, and practice goodness by sharing our lives to others as mentioned in Matthew 25:31-46.

·         Be obedient to the Great Commission – to “Go and Make Disciples, Baptize them and Teach Them to Obey”.  Don’t be lazy and bashful in sharing your faith.  Dwell in the promise that Jesus will never abandon us while we obey.

·         Don’t make excuses.  Deny yourselves, Take up your Cross Daily and Follow Christ (Luke 9:23)

·         We have to get ourselves out from the entanglements of problems and concerns, stop paying attention to other people’s critical behaviors, and think of things that are nobler and more beneficial.  Philippians 4:8-18  (Whatever is….)

·         Stop saying you are weak, hopeless and helpless.  The Spirit within you is far powerful than the impossible.  Practice daily repentance and remain pure for God.

Conclusion:

We, as disciples, are the stabilizing element, the salt and light, the encouragement to those who lose courage, strength to those who grow weak and weary, the teachers to those who need wisdom.  We should not easily be shaken, as we believe that the Spirit is strong and stable within us.

Let us stay FOCUSED, keep our sober judgment, be strong in spiritual discernment. 

Application:

·         In our Desert Fires Ministries, what are the things that stir or snatch our focus? List them all and pray about them until the ministry will overcome them.

·         How can we help in keeping the Ministry at the right Focus?  What can we do as a member to maintain and intensify this focus?

·         As a one member of this ministry, do you sometimes commit some acts that make other disciple lose their focus?  Do you sometimes stumble them and be instrumental for them to fall into sin?  Refer to Luke 17:1-2  and be humble enough apologize and repent.

Peter Restored

Pastor Jose V. Velasco

Read John 21:15-15

 

Photo owned by Goodsalt.com:  Simon the Rock

   Jesus knew that Peter, in spite of his denying Him, has not completely given up on Him. Hearing the first word that Jesus’ body was missing at the tomb he and John immediately ran to the tomb to check what happened. This showed that the two still lovingly cared for their Lord. So Jesus gave Peter a chance to reaffirm his love and faith to Him. This happened at the Sea of Tiberias (V. 1).

   Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Jesus asked Peter this question because love is our primary link to Him. There are other secondary links like trust, commitment and obedience. But all of these are generated by our love to Christ. Some people think they are Christian because they were baptized, they regularly go to church, they make large contributions to the church and to other charities, they can recite the Lord’s Prayer and the creeds, and they do considerable sacrificial volunteering to the work of the church. But Paul says that all shows of religion are meaningless if they are devoid of love (1 Cor. 13:1-3). However, when these outward acts of religion are motivated by love to God and people they are truly virtuous and honorable. Why did Jesus repeat His question to Peter three times? Some explain that He did it to remind Peter of the triple denials and must truly repent. Another explanation is to get the thought of loving Jesus sink deeper into Peter’s mind and heart. This may happen to us too when we repeat pondering on a strikingly meaningful Bible passage. The impact of its truth on our thoughts and hearts intensifies. And its meaning gets clearer and richer.

   Jesus’ triple response to Peter’s pledge of love was to urge him to serve the needs of His flock or people. Genuine love is not just an emotion, but also an action. Because God loves humankind He gave His Son (Jn. 3:16). Because He loved the Hebrew people suffering in miserable slavery in Egypt God acted to deliver them through Moses and Aaron (Exodus 3:7-10). So Jesus asks us, do you love me? I believe more of us would say, yes I love you. By what actions would you then prove your love to Him?  When we lovingly serve the needy and poor we prove our love to Jesus. Loving and serving others is serving Jesus (Mt. 25:40, 45). We love Jesus by sharing His words with others. We love Jesus when we live an exemplary Christian life before people. We love Him when we support the work of His church by our prayers, gifts and volunteering services. We love Him when we obey His teachings and live like Him.

   All of us are like Peter who frequently stumble and fall spiritually and morally. We commit mistakes. But in humility we can come to God and sincerely ask His forgiveness. Absolutely, He is ever ready to forgive and cleanse us of all our shortcomings and to restore us to Himself (1 Jn. 1:9). This does not mean that we are free to just deliberately sin again because God is forgiving anyway. His forgiveness is not that cheap. After we repent and are forgiven, with His help, we must also do our best to avoid sin and live pure lives. Like what He said to the sinful woman, He also says to us, “Go and sin no more” (Jn.8:11).

Prayer: I am just a weak human being, Lord, and I commit sins in my thoughts, words and deeds. I am sorry and I ask your forgiveness. Help me to avoid things that you hate, and lead me to do things that only please and glorify you. In the Name of Christ our Savior we pray. Amen.

The Final Resurrection

Pastor Jose V. Velasco

Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

   In the preceding reflection we understood that Christians spiritually resurrect with Christ now the moment they truly believe. This is not a physical resurrection of the body. In the state in which they are alive with Christ now they will still die physically. Everyone, whether Christians or not, will one day die physical.

   But according to the Scripture reading above there is going to be a final resurrection. This is how Paul further describes that resurrection, “For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (1 Cor. 15:52-53). While the rising up with Christ that we experience now is spiritual, meaning the emergence of a new Christ-like mind, heart and character, the final resurrection shall include a new imperishable body replacing the decaying body in the grave. This is so because the material body cannot last in God’s eternal kingdom (1 Cor. 15:50). This will happen when Christ will come again as he promised, “I am going there to prepare a place for you. - I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (Jn. 14:2-3). Thus His own shall be with Him in eternity. As to when that happens no human being knows (Mt. 24:36; Acts 1:7)

   Let us carefully note that the Holy Scriptures give two destinies for people in the final resurrection. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (Jn. 3:36). Eternal life here means life with Christ in heaven, and God’s wrath is hell. “They (means the wicked) will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Mt. 25:46). All the 3 parables in Matthew 25 mention these two destinies. So not all will go to heaven. There are some who claim that those who go to hell will still have a chance to repent and be transferred to heaven eventually. I would personally be happy about that because I have some relatives and friends who never really cared about Christ in their earthly lives. But I would not recommend it because it is uncertain. In a parable of Jesus a rich man who went to hell requested Abraham to send a poor beggar who went to heaven to bring him drinking water to relieve his sufferings. Abraham said that it is impossible because there was an impassable chasm or gap between heaven and hell (Lk. 16:26). We do not know what that chasm exactly is. But while we are still in this earthly life it is better to make sure we go to heaven by believing in Jesus Christ now and living according to His words (2 Cor. 6:2).

   How would you picture that eternal life in heaven? There may not be much we can say regarding that. But we have some glimpses in the Bible. One of them is in Revelation 21:3-4: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘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’. . .  He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”   What a great and wonderful life that shall be! Are you preparing for it?

Prayer: Lord God, we thank you for your grand plan for us in eternity. Guide and help us to truly believe in you and live by your will so we may be with you in your eternal home. In your Son’s holy name we pray. Amen