Who Has your Back?

A Series on the letter of 1 John
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
1 John 2:1-27 

[The author of this letter is John. Prior to being a disciple of Jesus, he was a fisherman with a reputation for his bad temper. In fact, he and his brother were called the “Sons of Thunder”. But he was also known as “the one whom Jesus loved”. In this letter, John shares that same love with us.]

 

In October 2020, my wife had a stroke! 

Following my 911 call, the ambulance arrived very quickly. It was all very surreal and very scary. At one point, there must have been six or seven EMT’s in our home, putting her on a gurney and loading her into the squad to be transported to the hospital. The EMT’s had her back.

 

We all face times in our life when we need help. There was a faction in the first century church known as Gnosticism. It was perhaps the most dangerous heresy that threatened the early church during the first three centuries. 

 

Gnostics believed that the human spirit was good and that the body was evil. They also believed that salvation came through a special knowledge, not through faith in Christ. And, that Jesus came not in human form, but in spirit.

 

This heresy was causing problems for the believers. Some had left the church. Some were living in a licentious lifestyle. Many were going down a path that would eventually lead to darkness and spiritual death. John wrote about the ramifications of their misdirected beliefs.

 

⁹ Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.             NIV

^15-16 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him.       MSG

²² So who is lying here? It’s the person who denies that Jesus is the Divine Christ, that’s who. This is what makes an antichrist: denying the Father, denying the Son.    MSG

 

The good news is that those believers who remained faithful, were not alone. God had their back.

 

¹ My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.                       NLT

 

The Greek word for “advocate” is parakletos. This word became a title for the Holy Spirit, whose role included/includes “encouraging, strengthening and supporting God’s people”.

 

²⁶ I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. ²⁷ But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.                       NLT

 

This is a promise made to you by the Living God, the creator of the universe. As a believer in Christ, you have an advocate, and that advocate is the Holy Spirit. You have received him, and he lives within you to guide you into truth, to encourage and strengthen you. And, like the EMT’s who came to our home, he has your back.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

You’re Not You When You’re Hungry

A Series on Living in the Wilderness: Part 2
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 4:1-13 

[This is Part 2 in a series of looking at people who lived in the wilderness. Not necessarily the wilderness of nature, but the wilderness of life. In fact, there are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is faithful. That He loves you and is always with you.]

  

In 2010, Snickers started an ad campaign called, “You’re not you when you’re hungry”.

The premise of this long running campaign was that, as a result of being hungry, a person turned into a different person, normally a celebrity. Then, once they took a bite of a Snickers bar, they returned to their normal self.

 

Along the same lines, a research study was recently completed and published regarding the term “hanger”. This is a word used to describe anger resulting from hunger. The article confirmed, “Results indicated that greater levels of self-reported hunger were associated with greater feelings of anger”.

 

Twelve step programs use the acronym of HALT - which stands for hungry, angry, lonely and tired - as a potential trigger for acting out. They didn’t need a funny commercial or an expensive research study to know that hunger can result in anger which can lead a person to rationalize most any behavior.

 

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.    NIV

 

Duh! If anyone could use hunger as an excuse for acting out, or giving into temptation, it was Jesus. You can imagine that he might have been angry at the whole world. So, why did the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness of Judea?

 

Like Israel wandering in the wilderness for forty years, Jesus living in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights, was a testing and preparation experience for what he was going to face during his ministry.

 

But even beyond this reason, there is another. By enduring the trials and temptations of living in the wilderness, Jesus is able to relate to you and to me on a purely personal and human level.

 

“Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”       Hebrews 2:18

 

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.                       Hebrews 4:15-16

 

So, the next time you’re feeling like, “You’re not you when you’re hungry”, ask yourself this question: is the Lord preparing you for something? Also, keep in mind that he knows what it means to suffer and won’t judge you, but will accept you to “receive mercy and find grace”.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

An Adrenaline Rush

A Series on the “I Am” statements of Jesus
“I Am the true vine”
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
John 14:15-15:17

[Moses encountered God at the burning bush where the Lord gave His name as “I Am”. Jesus used that same name for himself, thus claiming to BE God. In this series, we’re looking at the “I Am” statements of Jesus to learn about him and about God.]

 

Some people love to take risks; even risks that feel dangerous. Extreme sports fall into this category. Things like skate boarding, sky diving or bungee jumping. Before taking the plunge, the participant experiences an adrenaline rush… so I’m told.

 

You might compare an adrenaline rush to the Spirit of God.

 

In the Old Testament, the Spirit was present in “a specific person, at a specific time, for a specific task”. Think of Gideon when he was about to battle the Midianites; or Samson bringing down the temple on the Philistines; or Elijah facing off against the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel.

 

In John 14, Jesus is just finishing in the upper room with his disciples. He knows what his future holds and is preparing them for it. It’s here that he promises them the Holy Spirit. Not for a specific time and specific task, but as an in-dwelling, continuous advocate.

 

²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.         NIV

 

Then in John 15, Jesus makes this statement.

 

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.            NIV

 

This is a metaphor that helps us to understand how the Holy Spirit works; how we stay connected with Jesus and each other; and how we bear fruit for the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches and God the Father, is the gardener.

 

Jesus promised the disciples the Holy Spirit. That promise holds true today. He is called the Advocate, Counselor, Comforter, Encourager, Intercessor and Helper. He is always with you and me to keep us connected to the true vine, to each other and to bear fruit.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

Why God?

John 14:22-27

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014%3A22-27&version=NIV;AMP

 

Have you ever asked this question? I know I have. Twice that sticks in my mind. Once when my fiancé dumped me during my sophomore year of college. After about six months I was able to give an answer to the question. God used her rejection to bring me to the point of turning my life over to Him; to draw me closer to Him.

 

The next time wasn’t as easy to figure out. My wife was pregnant with our first child when something went terribly wrong. We went to the hospital at about eight months, and were told that the baby would be still born. Looking back on it, even now after over forty years, I still can’t answer the question, “Why God”.

 

¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.           John 14:18-19 NIV



 

²² Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, what has happened that You are going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?”      AMP

 

Even the disciples asked the question, “Why God”. Maybe not in those exact words, but essentially that’s what they were asking. The disciples were expecting Jesus to become the political leader of Israel; to overthrow the Romans and anyone else in power.

 

Sometimes we just don’t get it do we. The Israelites certainly didn’t get it while wandering in the wilderness. The disciples didn’t get it as Jesus was giving them his last minute instructions before being crucified. And we don’t get it when we’re in the middle of struggling with life.

 

But God has a plan and you are a part of it. You may not understand it right now. You may not understand it in forty years. But God has a plan and He is working it. The question to ask is not “Why God”, but “What is your plan God, and how can I be a part of it”. Then trust the Spirit to lead you.

 

²⁶ But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.  AMP

 

 

 

 

 

 

Powerball

Mark 16:15-20

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2016%3A15-20&version=NIV;ESV

 

What would you do if you won $550,000,000? That’s how much the Powerball jackpot was scheduled to be at the time of this writing. Would you buy a new luxury home or

car? Or would you set aside a trust to pay for your grand children’s college? Or would you donate 10% to your church or a ministry or charity?

 

If you are a believer and follower of Christ, in a way, you’ve already won the lottery because you know that eternal winnings are available now, and waiting for you in Heaven. The things of this world will perish, but Heaven is for eternity. It’s priceless. So what will you do with your priceless gift?

 

When Jesus was crucified, the disciples had lost all hope. They were sitting around feeling sorry for themselves, “mourning and weeping”. Even after Mary Magdalene and two other followers had seen the resurrected Christ, the disciples refused to believe; refused to act. They preferred to mope and do nothing. Then this happened.

 

¹⁴ Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.        ESV

 

Jesus called them to action. He called them to “proclaim the gospel”. Basically, he gave them a swift kick in the pants with the following result.

 

²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.          ESV

 

Jesus is still calling his disciples across the millennia to action. He’s calling you and me to be his hands and his feet. He’s calling us to touch the lepers of this world. He’s calling us to bring a message of hope to the hopeless; to the addicted; to the imprisoned. He’s calling us to share his love, grace and forgiveness with people at work, at school, in our neighborhood and in our family.

 

We’ve already won a bigger jackpot than Powerball. Let’s share it with those that God brings into our life. Let’s get up off the couch and do something. We don’t have to go around the world… just next door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gridlock

Matthew 28:18-20

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2028%3A18-20&version=NIV;NLT

 

 

There are a lot of things that can keep us from taking action. Fear, feeling overwhelmed by an impending major decision or lack of confidence, just to name a few. Also high on that list is the loss of a family member or a close friend.

 

Any of these can send us into an emotional tailspin that can take hours, days, weeks or even months to recover. In the meantime, we remain motionless at best or even going backwards at worse. It’s as if our decision making ability, even our instincts to survive, are frozen in time. We’re in a personal gridlock.

 

The disciples were faced with a similar situation following the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. They had lost their leader. They were afraid. What would happen to them? Where would they go? What would they do?

 

These verses in Matthew 28, are some of the last recorded words that Jesus spoke to his disciples telling them in no uncertain terms that they were to go and make disciples; that he would be with them always.

 

It seems simple doesn’t it? Yet, apparently more was needed. In Acts 1, as the disciples were looking up into the sky where Jesus had just disappeared, apparently leaving them forever; they were unable to make a decision… unable to take action. At that point, two men dressed in white spoke to them.

 

¹¹ “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?”    NIV

 

In other words, “Get up off the couch and get going. You heard Jesus promise you power from the Holy Spirit. Nothing’s going to happen when you aren’t doing anything. So do something and watch him work”. That isn’t in the Bible, but they could have said those words to the disciples… and to you and me.

 

Matthew 28:18-20 is well known as the Great Commission. It’s often quoted and used as a teaching tool for evangelism. It’s Jesus’ call to action. However, Acts 1:8-11 is also his call to action. Following this call, the first thing the disciples did was to pray.

 

So, why are you standing there looking up into the sky? Reading this devotional? Get going! Do something! Get involved! Break out of your gridlock! Pray!

 

 

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” ⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. ¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”         NIV

 

 

 

I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

Ephesians 1:11-14

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%201%3A11-14&version=NIV;GNT;NLT

  

I love watching a plan come to fruition. There’s a feeling of accomplishment; of satisfaction; of victory. It’s exciting!

 

What gets you excited? The beginning of football season? Watching your children succeed? Helping someone accomplish their goals? Selling an account to a customer? Leading someone to faith in Christ?

 

What excited Paul was seeing the big picture of God’s plan of evangelism. He presented the Ephesian church with a vision of how God’s plan was being fulfilled through them. In fact, the Bible is a living history of God’s plan. The amazing thing is that He uses imperfect people to accomplish His perfect plan.

 

¹¹ All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning.   GNT

 

To be honest, I don’t know how this verse works exactly. After all, how can God’s plan include a still born; a school shooting; cancer; an addiction; or other catastrophic circumstances? How can a loving God allow evil, injustice and extreme poverty in His plan? I don’t have the answer.

 

What I can tell you is that God does love you, He has a plan for your life and He is always at work to fulfill that plan. And when He does that, it’s time to get excited.

 

And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. ¹⁴ The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.            NLT

 

This is how God grows His Kingdome, one person at a time. His Spirit moves your heart, your mind, your soul. His Spirit brought you into His plan, moves you forward through it and guarantees you the final outcome.

 

Therefore, if He has put something into your heart to do; don’t ignore it. That’s God’s Spirit at work in your life to build His Kingdom; to fulfill His plan. So take the first step. Then you too can say, “I love it when a plan comes together”.

 

 

 

Your Life as a House

Romans 8:15-27

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208%3A15-27&version=NIV;NLT

 

Have you ever watched the HGTV hit show, “Fixer Upper” with Chip and Joanna Gaines? The show takes place in Waco, Texas where Chip and Joanna run a remodeling and design business. In each episode, they take an old, “fixer upper” house, invest time and money and make it into a beautiful home.

 

About twelve years ago I tried my hand at flipping a few houses. The last one we did was built in 1925. Unfortunately, it had suffered over the years from a severe lack of maintenance, abuse of the owners and finally a devastating fire.

 

As we got into it, we discovered even more problems which included termite and structural damage. I’m sure that when she was first built she was a beauty. But by the time we bought her, she was a mess. She had endured a painful existence.

 

Our daughter and son-in-law were going to buy the house so they invested their own sweat equity along with ours and a crew of skilled contractors. Here are some before, during and after pictures to give you an idea of the process.

 

Before

 

 

During

After

 

If the house could have talked, she might have said how painful it was to be neglected and abused all those years. The possibility that she might be able to return to her original glory was unthinkable with the previous owners. But as we began the remodeling she must have felt a spark of hope.

 

 

In some ways, we’re like that house. We’ve suffered from a lack of maintenance, from abuse and maybe even a devastating life event. But there is hope. There is hope to rebuild our life; to return to our original glory. And that hope comes solely from Jesus Christ.

 

¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. ¹⁸ Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.  NLT

 

Through his Spirit, God gives us the inheritance to experience his Glory, as a foretaste now, but fully later. Your life as a house does have hope.

 

 

 

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You’re Fired

Hebrews 9:9-15

 (Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%209%3A9-15&version=NIV;NLT

 

“You’re Fired” was the phrase made famous on the reality TV show The Apprentice starring our newly inaugurated president, Donald Trump.

 

The premise of the show was that two teams of young business people competed against one another on a project or task. Whichever team lost had to face Trump in the board room to determine who contributed the least to their team; whereupon Trump would immediately tell that person, in no uncertain terms, “You’re fired”!

 

By doing this, the team would theoretically be a newer, stronger version of itself that

should be able to compete and possibly win the next contest. This concept of improving a faulty system by eliminating or changing the members can be seen in the Hebrew passage today.

 

In the Old Testament, God provided a sacrificial system through Moses. It involved the High Priest entering the Holy Place once a year to make a blood sacrifice for his sins and for the sins of Israel. But this was not enough because it had to be done year after year after year. The system was flawed.

 

⁹ This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. ¹⁰ For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.            NLT

 

The perfect system came through the blood of Jesus Christ. He was the perfect lamb that was sacrificed once and for all. Nothing you or I can do, or have done, is too sinful or shameful for the blood of Christ to wipe away forever.

 

¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!       NIV

 

In The Apprentice, Trump fired participants because they were weak, because they

failed or because they weren’t good enough. In real life though, Jesus, through the Holy

Spirit, provided the perfect way for the weak, for those who fail and for those who aren’t good enough; to be perfected, to live with purpose and to spend eternity with our Heavenly Father.

 

  

(If God has spoken to you through this devotional, please feel free to share it with others.)

 

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Throughout all Generations

Acts 19:1-7

 

 

One Sunday, when I was about 10 years old, I didn’t want to go to church. My Dad chased me around the house and out into the backyard where he finally caught me. When we got to church I wouldn’t get out of the car so he made me wait there while they went to services.

 

As bad as this story sounds, for the most part I enjoyed, or at least complied, and went to church each Sunday. Although our church tradition didn’t talk about asking Jesus into your heart or being born again, looking back on it now, I believe that I was a Christian trying to follow and obey God.

 

However, years later in college a friend presented the Four Spiritual Laws to me. It made a lot of sense so I asked Christ into my heart. That same summer my friend told me about the Holy Spirit and how he worked in my life. Like the disciples in Ephesus that Paul met, I had an initial belief that later lead to a life changing experience.

 

These disciples had most likely become believers through the ministry of Apollos who had been in Ephesus previous to Paul. They are referred to as disciples, so they must have believed in God, but something was missing, and that something was the Holy Spirit. When Paul placed his hands on them while baptizing them, the Holy Spirit came upon them in power.

 

Years later, while in prison in Rome, Paul wrote these words to the disciples in Ephesus. Notice how many times he mentions the word “power”.

 

^16 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

 

Looking back at a ten year old boy who didn’t want to go to church, God was at work in my life. He was constantly drawing me to him, even as my father dragged me, kicking and screaming, to church that day. Years later, God opened my heart to His Holy Spirit and changed my life.

 

Paul’s Ephesian prayer ends like this:

^20”Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in

Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

 

“Throughout all generations, for ever and ever”… Paul’s prayer was not only for those disciples in Ephesus, but for you and me today. God is still at work in our lives through the power of His Holy Spirit, to draw us closer to Him and to use us to attract and bring others to Him also.