Tag: Jesus love

How to Boldly Stand Firm in the Gospel with Love

How to Boldly Stand Firm in the Gospel with Love

There was so much to teach and time was running short. Jesus would be betrayed by Judas within a few hours and He would be going to the cross to complete the Father’s command. He was the Messiah that they had so long awaited; yet, the priests and scholars did not recognize Him. So caught within their own prideful hearts they wanted someone who outwardly appeared more “kingly” by their definitions. They did not want some humble, loving Prince who questioned their authority. They were so wrapped in their own traditions and hunger for power and money that they could not see the truth. They did not really know God despite all the years of studying the scripture. “Remember, my dear friends;” Jesus spoke as He walked toward the Garden, “the world will hate you. It has hated me and because I have chosen you, it will hate you as well.” He continues this conversation from John 15:18 through John 16:3. Indeed, “2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.” (John 16, NIV)

“Don’t let your heart be troubled, you will be hated and probably killed for knowing me as your Savior; but, remember this, they hated me.” Not the words of comfort we want to hear in our comfortable homes here in the United States. If we keep silent, maybe no one will notice that we are Christians!  Yet, if I keep silent as to my faith; then, am I really a follower of Christ? We have heard the stories of Christians being beheaded in the Middle East. We have heard the stories of Christians being targeted, like the Oregon College Shooter who determined his victims by asking them whether they were a Christian. The early church faced imprisonment and execution because they named the name of Christ. Down through the ages of the church there were true followers of Christ who stood up against the “church’s prideful leaders”  These brave preachers of the gospel faced imprisonment, exile and even death by the established church for speaking the truth of Grace.

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Have You Seen the Wonderful Glorious Bridegroom’s Love?

Have You Seen the Wonderful Glorious Bridegroom’s Love?

There is one more very important detail that we must look at before we leave John’s detailed account of the first miracle that Jesus performed during His earthly ministry. That is the All-providing nature of Jesus shown here. As I explained Monday, the bridegroom was responsible for making certain there was an ample supply of wine. Not even the master of the feast was responsible. This was the responsibility of the bridegroom. In this scene, the bridegroom had failed to provide. Jesus provided what the bridegroom did not and could not. There are several beautiful portraits of Jesus Christ that we can take from these scriptures.

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JESUS IS THERE TO HELP FAILING BRIDEGROOMS

[bctt tweet=”Jesus stepped into the scene & with purifying water provided what the bridegroom could not.”] Do you ever feel that as a husband you have failed? Christ is there to help you. He is the only one who can fill your heart with self-less love for your wife. He can guide your every step. Scripture commands husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, being willing to die for the church. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself” (Ephesians 5).

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