JESUS’ HEART'S DESIRE!

Desire is the conscious impulse towards something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment; it is the longing and craving for something. I wonder if there's anybody who doesn't have some kind of hope or desire. I dare to say all humans have them, including children.

But does Jesus have a desire? Why? After all, He's God and can make anything happen, so why should He desire anything? Yet, surprisingly, Jesus does have a desire for an excellent reason. That desire is so important to Him that He prayed about it. He prayed to the Father, "Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!" (John 17:24). Jesus desires to have others be a part of His celebration in heaven someday! 

Jesus' desire is not so far-fetched. We do that all the time ourselves. Don't we send out invitation cards to graduation celebrations, weddings, retirement celebrations, etc.? Sure we do! But why? Because we want loved ones and friends to share our joy. Victories and successes aren't that enjoyable when you are by yourself.

Jesus came to earth to fulfill the Father's will (see John 17:4, 18). As we read from the Scriptures, it wasn't an easy assignment, but He did it! He has since returned to heaven and is seated at the Father's right hand, surrounded by beauty and glory! It's just right that Jesus should want His friends to celebrate with Him. His prayer was not only about the disciples He had then, but for all disciples since then, including you and me. Jesus defines friends as those who obey Him: "You are my friends if you do what I command" (John 15:14). What an amazing thought that Jesus is waiting for us, His friends, so He can show us around to give us a grand tour of the heavenly city. It is made of pure gold, with walls of jasper, streets of gold, gates of pearls, the clear as crystal River of Life, and all those mansions He promised to prepare for us! (See Revelation 21; 22 & John 14:2-3)

Remember that Jesus is still praying for us; He is our advocate before the Father. Any time the devil accuses us of anything, He steps in to defend and declare us forgiven based on his suffering. "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. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins and not only our sins but the sins of all the world" (1 John 2:1-2). I believe He'll continue to pray until we see Him face to face and cast our crowns at His feet!

If this is unclear, I'll explain. God loves you very much and desires a personal relationship with you, but your sin is in the way. He is a holy God, and unless your sin is out of the way, it will be impossible to establish that relationship with you. Therefore, God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay for your sins and mine. Anyone who repents and trusts in Jesus is forgiven and made a child of God. Would you like to be a child of God? I encourage you to pray and ask God to forgive you in Jesus' name. Once you do, what you read earlier in this article will make more sense to you.

Jesus is in heaven, desiring for you to have faith in Him now, in this life, so someday when this life is over, He'll have the opportunity to give you a tour of heaven, where all His children will live with Him forever. Please don't let this opportunity pass you by because if you miss it, you have by default chosen to spend eternity in hell. (See Revelation 20:15)

Jesus is coming soon! Brothers and sisters, let's share Jesus' heart desire with all who will listen. It is crucial and it is urgent.     

 

GOD HATES INGRATITUDE

 

Merriam-Webster defines ingratitude as the lack of proper appreciation or thanks for something (such as a kind or generous act): lack of gratitude. In our dealings with people, we are quite often in situations where we should express gratitude. For instance, we thank someone who holds the door for us, someone who gets out of our way in the store, and someone who takes a message over the phone. When at home, someone gets you a cup of water, tea, or coffee, you name it. I don’t think we ever go through a day without needing to say thanks to someone. We’re always in situations that require the expression of gratitude.

We are so quick to say thank you to people, which is good and proper, but how often do we thank God? Should we go all day without thanking Him, waiting until just before we fall asleep in prayer? That’s not the right way of showing our gratefulness; we should constantly be expressing gratitude as we experience different situations throughout the day.

Not showing proper gratitude means we think we are in charge of all our circumstances. We pat ourselves on the back or thank other people more often than thank God. We are robbing God of the honor and glory due to Him, and He has told us in the Scriptures that He won’t give His glory to another (see Isaiah 42:8). We need to take that as a warning because He does react when we replace Him with ourselves, others, or things.

We need to take note of the Psalmist’s experience and learn from it. He said to the LORD, “Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain” (Psalm 30:7a NLT). But “When I was prosperous, I said, ‘Nothing can stop me now!’’ (Psalm 30:6 NLT). Do we consider our achievements the result of our own doing? Well, the Psalmist did but learned his lesson quickly: God was not happy about his response. “Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered” (Psalm 30:7b). Without God, we can do nothing (see John 15:5). So, whatever we can do or accomplish depends on His grace and goodness in our lives. Let’s not take Him for granted, and let’s stop stealing His glory!

On their way to the Promised Land, Moses warned the Israelites about the danger of becoming proud once they started to enjoy God’s blessings in the land. After all, the land was described as flowing with milk and honey. Moses warned them about the possibility of getting puffed up after they’d built houses, their flocks had increased, and their silver and gold had multiplied. He was concerned that at that point, they might say, “I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.” So he instructed them:  “Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).

This is an unequivocal warning to us; we cannot and should not claim glory for what God does in our lives, which is everything. Are you intelligent? Do you have a college degree? Do you have unusual abilities? Good for you, but don’t ever forget that God made all that possible and can take those things away without prior notice.

May God help us cultivate a habit of thanksgiving around the clock because He deserves it, and it is His due. The Psalmist says, “Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name” (Psalm 100:3-4).     

GOD IS THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH

God is faithful; He doesn’t do anything haphazardly. He always finishes what He starts. He always brings His work to completion. After creation, He announced: “It is good.” And the apostle Paul admonished the Philippians: “God, who began the good work within you, will continue until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6).

For example, if God called Jeroboam to be king, you’d think he would trust the same God to help him reign. But that’s not what happened. As a result of King Solomon ending his reign so poorly through disobedience, God raised Jeroboam to be king over ten of the tribes of Israel, the northern tribe, leaving only two tribes for the house of David under Rehoboam.

 Soon after Jeroboam became king, he started to worry about the possibility of his subjects defecting to the king of Judah. Fearing that scenario could actually happen, he devised a plan. He imagined if he stopped them from going to worship in Jerusalem as God had commanded, his fears wouldn’t be realized. So instead of going down to Jerusalem to worship, Jeroboam made two golden calves on the advice of his counselors -- (not on God’s direction) and said to the people: “It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!” (1 Kings 12:28) Really? Where was the God who appointed him to be king? Shouldn’t he have consulted Him instead? Wasn’t worshiping a golden calf a problem in the wilderness with their ancestors? How quickly we forget!

To complete his plan, he built shrines and ordained priests (not from the priestly tribe of Levi). He then instituted a religious festival in Bethel to correspond with the annual Festival of Shelters in Judah. He went up to the altar to burn incense on his appointed date.   

Needless to say, God was not happy! He rebuked Jeroboam through His prophet from Judah (see 1 King 13:2). In the same way, the apostle Paul criticized the Galatian church for allowing themselves to be misled by his opponents, who were teaching something totally different from salvation through faith in Jesus. Paul said to them: “I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ” (Galatians 1:6). Paul’s frustration with the Galatians is evident here: “Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? … How foolish can you be? …After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human efforts?” (Gal 3:1-3) Quoting Paul, we could say to Jeroboam, “After being made king by God, are you trying to reign in your own strength? How foolish!”

How are you running your race? Didn’t you come to God through faith in Jesus? “Trust the LORD with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Since He saved you, He can also keep you until the end of time; just obey His Word.

God does not expect us to go out on a limb and try to figure out on our own how to grow in faith. Instead, He expects us to seek guidance from His Word and the Holy Spirit and then rely on the fact that He prays for us: “He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf” (Hebrews 7:25). Had Jeroboam shared his fears with God, God would have shown him what to do. He would not have gone through so much trouble to secure the throne. Let’s seek God in all we do, turning our fears and concerns over to Him because He is able! He is the author and also the finisher of our faith.

 

DON’T MISS THE WEDDING SUPPER

Have you ever missed a family or friend's wedding reception, either because you were not invited or unavailable to attend? If so, how did you feel after seeing the pictures and hearing the celebration's details? The details probably included food that was out of this world, beautiful music, dancing, and the presence of attendees you'd have loved to see. You probably regretted not being there. 

When you miss a friend or family member's celebration, you can send presents and good wishes later. As disappointing as not attending could be, it won't be the end of the world, but missing the wedding feast I'm talking about will definitely be your worst loss because you lose a lot more than just food, drink, and dancing! You lose being in the presence of God in heaven. If that won't be a loss enough, you'll spend time with the devil. So, you can see this will be one wedding feast you cannot afford to miss!

I'm sure you're thinking, "This doesn't sound like an ordinary celebration. Who is the couple?" Yes, you are right; it is not an ordinary celebration; Jesus is the Groom, and the bride is His Church! Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? The Church is not a building; it is the collection of believers (see Ephesians 1:23). If you're not part of the Church, you are not included in the body of Christ, His bride. Had the feast happened yesterday, you would not have been a part of it. 

Thank God, He is waiting for you to come to be part of His church; He does not want anyone, including you, to perish: "He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent" (2 Peter 3:9). Be aware, however, that He can only wait for so long. You need to make a decision today; tomorrow might be too late! The Scripture says, "But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief" (2 Peter 3:10). Also, no one knows when their life will end.  

I hope by now you're asking, "How do I become part of the Church?" Let's start from the beginning. The Bible says we are all sinners, deserving of God's judgment. The Scriptures tell the Christians in Ephesus, "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God" (Ephesians 2:1-2). So you see, you are a sinner, but Jesus, in love and obedience to the Father, took our place and endured God's judgment for our sin by dying on the cross. If we confess our sins to Him and ask for forgiveness, He forgives and indwells us through the Holy Spirit. This makes us His Children individually and collectively, His Body, His Church, and someday in heaven, His Bride. Amen!

If you miss the opportunity to be His child and are outside His Body, you will never be in heaven and therefore won't be at the wedding. Do you know where you'd be instead? I hate to think about that, and I don't say it lightly, but the truth is you'll be in hell, with the devil and his demons (see Matthew 25:41).

There's no reason you should go there if you don't want to. You have a choice to make between God and the devil. I've shown you what to do; do it and allow the Holy Spirit to transform you through the Scriptures, prayers, and fellowship with other believers. This is how you will grow in your relationship with God and someday, with all other believers, be the bride of Christ. We will not miss the feast because we, the bride, will have to be there. It will be our day! Hallelujah!      

 

All quotes are from the New Living Translation (NLT).