Newness in a New Year

I read an article this week from a national newspaper that was entitled, The List: What’s In & Out in 2018.

As I read the article, I wondered who decides what is in and out. It couldn’t be what was popular because this was written before the year had even begun. I imagined in my mind a group of people sitting in a big room around a table deciding what was going to be in and what would be out.

I believe that many times we, as followers of Jesus, let the world tell us what is in and out.

For followers of Jesus, God, not the world, defines who we are and what is right and wrong and what is in and out.

The Word of God tells us who we are in Jesus.

In 2 Timothy 3:16 it says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

God’s Word teaches us who we are.

God’s Word tells us when we are not living like who we are.

God’s Word redirects us to live like who we are.

God’s Word trains us to live like who we are.

The Bible says a lot about who we are. I want to focus on seven truths about who we are in Jesus.

John 1:12

Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God.

We are Children of God.

As God’s children we are:

Loved by God

Protected by God

Provided for by God

Heirs of God

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living as children of God. 

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.

We are a chosen people.

God chose us. A person can only come to Jesus because God has called him. We love Him because He first loved us. It is all about God choosing us, God loving us, God initiating the relationship with us.

Think about that. The God of all creation chose you and me to be His people.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living as God’s chosen people.

We are a Royal Priesthood.

Only Jesus combined the offices of king and high priest. We as followers of Jesus are kingly priests. We are given the privilege through God’s authority to come before God’s throne.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living as people who have direct access to God the Father through Jesus.

We are a holy nation.

Holy means set apart for God’s purpose.

Nation does not refer to a political entity but to a group of people.

We as followers of Jesus are a group of people who have been set apart for His purposes.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living as people set apart to do God’s will.

We are God’s special possession.

We belong to God.

We are special to God.

In Deuteronomy God says that Israel is to be a peculiar people. That word peculiar means treasured possession. We as His people are His treasured possession.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living as God’s possession.

We are a people called out of darkness into God’s light.

Darkness is always associated with evil.

Light is always associated with good.

We are a people called out of evil and called in to goodness or righteousness by God’s grace.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living as light people not darkness people.

Ephesians 5:1

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children of God.

We are the beloved of God.

God loves us just because He loves us. It is not because of anything we have done or will do or even could do. Jesus loves us because we exist.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living as people fully beloved by God.  

God’s Word tells us:

Who God is

What God does

Who we are in Jesus

What we can do in Jesus

As we enter a new year may we believe that we are who God says we are.

Believing Jesus, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                            Joe

Jesus Came as the Light of the World

John 1:1-9

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through Him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

In John 8:12 Jesus says that He is the light of the world and that whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

What are these passages telling us about Jesus?

They are telling us that Jesus is the light of the world. 

1 John 1:5-7

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not have the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.

Jesus being the light means He illuminates truth.

The truth of our sin.

The truth of who Jesus is.

The truth of God’s provision.

The truth of God’s grace.

The truth of who we are in Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging Jesus as the light and letting Him guide our daily walk.

Jesus being the light means He creates.

Nothing that exists was made outside of the knowledge and will of Jesus. You and I exist because He wants us to exist.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging Jesus as the Creator and living under His authority.

Jesus being the light means that we have many, many brothers and sisters.

We not only have God as our Father, we have God’s people as our brothers and sisters. We are part of a huge community of like-minded people called the church.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is entering into and enjoying the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus being the light means that He saves us from our sin and also purifies us from the stain of our sins.

Verse 7 talks about the blood of Jesus purifying us from all our sin. 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins God will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus as our Savior not only forgives us from the penalty of our sin, but He also removes from us the power of sin over our daily lives.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing the forgiveness and cleansing of our sin.

In Luke 2, when the angel appeared to the shepherds, it says that the glory of the Lord shone around them. When Jesus’ birth was announced, it was with a bright light shining on the shepherds.

In Matthew 2 the Magi came to seek Jesus through the guidance of a star and its light showed them the way.

I pray that you will have a very Merry Christmas. But even more I pray you will experience the truth of the light of the gospel of Jesus.

Celebrating Jesus as the Light, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                     Joe

Christmas: The Beginning of a New Hope

As we approach the celebration of Christmas, the coming of the Savior Jesus, I am reminded that Christmas is about grace and mercy.

I am truly amazed when I hear people expressing the idea that somehow God is a harsh, unfair, demanding tyrant. Christmas shows that God is all about grace and mercy.

In Philippians 2, Paul says that Jesus was God, but did not keep a hold of being God. He emptied Himself and became a human and humbled Himself to die on the cross for our sin.

In Colossians 1, Paul shows us the greatness of Jesus. Paul says:

Jesus is the image of the invisible God

Jesus is the firstborn over all creation

that in Him all things were created

that everything was created by Jesus and for Jesus

that He is before everything

that in Him all things are held together

He is the head of the body, the church

He is the beginning

He is the firstborn from among the dead

He has the supremacy in everything

all the fulness of God was in Him

all things were reconciled through Him

He made peace through His blood

Jesus is God, the Creator of everything, and He chose to give up all that power and authority and become the Savior by giving His life for our sin.

So, you say we are God’s creation, and His creation is good, so what is the problem?

The problem is:

Genesis 6:5

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

The creation had been perverted by sin, and human beings’ lives were now characterized by wickedness and evil.

The problem is:

Romans 3:10-18

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Humans rejected Jesus and began following their own ways and it lead down a path of evil and violence.

The problem:

Matthew 15:10-11; 17-20

Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging that in our natural condition we are separated from God. 

Other people, circumstances, or even the fallen nature of our culture are not what defile us as humans. It is our own hearts that defile us. In our natural human state, we are filled with things that are evil, immoral, and destructive to others.

These are the conditions that Jesus came into. He didn’t come to make humans better; He came to save us and transform us.

He came to save us from the penalty and power of sin.

He did that by His death on the cross.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is looking to Jesus and Jesus alone for our salvation.

He came to transform us from:

sinners to saints

enemies to friends

rejecters to followers

He did that through His resurrection.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging that Jesus is the only thing that can really change our lives.

Jesus came to save and transform and He is our only hope for both salvation and transformation.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is looking to Jesus as our only hope.

In the Hope of Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe

Jesus is Christmas!

When I was a child, I loved Christmas.

I loved the music. My favorite Christmas carol is Silent Night. Every year in my elementary school. the last day of school we would gather in the auditorium and watch the story of how Silent Night was written. and then we went back to our classroom and had our Christmas party. The song reminded me for years of those Christmas parties.

I loved the decorations. I loved driving around my hometown and seeing all the lights and the homes all decorated.

I loved getting up on Christmas day and seeing all the gifts that Santa had brought me.

I loved the feel of the season that seemed to change people’s attitudes (a least for a month).

Notice what was missing in my love of Christmas? – Christ!

I loved so much about Christmas but I was like the church at Ephesus. I was not focused on the first love of Christmas – Christ.

That changed the Christmas when I was 12. I had surrendered my life to Jesus early in that year and Christmas changed dramatically for me.

I still loved the music and the decorations and the gifts, but they were not what Christmas was about. Christmas had become about the coming of Jesus.

I still love Christmas and the focus on that love has grown. I now understand more fully the awesome display of sacrifice and grace Christmas is.

The Sacrifice

In Philippians 2:6-8 Paul writes, “Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!”

Notice the phrases:

Made Himself Nothing

Taking The Very Nature of Servant

He Humbled Himself

The coming of Jesus into the world was something that He chose to do. He didn’t come as a person of nobility but as a servant, again something He chose to do. He didn’t come demanding to be served, but He came to serve.

The magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice in just coming to earth is overwhelming. The idea of the Creator of all creation choosing to become a humble servant should cause us to realize and be in awe of the love that God has for us.

Then we are told of the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ coming. He came to be the sacrifice for your sin and for mine. In fact, Jesus came to die for the sin of all humanity.

He didn’t come to die as a martyr, but as our atoning sacrifice. You and I can die as martyrs for a cause. Jesus is the only one who could die for sin.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is celebrating Jesus as our atoning sacrifice as we celebrate Christmas.

The Grace

Colossians 1:15-16

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Jesus is the image of the invisible God – He is God.

Jesus is the firstborn over all creation – He is the preeminent being in all creation.

Jesus is Creator of everything in heaven and earth.

Jesus is the Creator of all the powers and authorities in heaven and earth.

Jesus is the Reason for everything in heaven and earth.

Jesus is the Reason for all the powers and authorities in heaven and earth.

God’s Word gives clear evidence that Jesus is Cause and Reason for all creation both in heaven and on the earth.

So, when Jesus chose to be born as a helpless human baby it was totally out of GRACE!

He didn’t have to do it.

He didn’t do it because we as humans deserve it.

He didn’t do it because we as humans had the potential to ever deserve it.

No, everything about Jesus’ coming is because of God’s great grace.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about seeing and experiencing God’s grace in the celebrating of Christmas.

I will sing the songs this Christmas.

I will decorate this Christmas.

I will enjoy my family (both biological and faith) this Christmas.

I will give and receive gifts this Christmas.

But I will not celebrate any of those things. I will celebrate Jesus and only Jesus on His birthday. Jesus’ sacrifice and His grace are what make Him and only Him worthy of my life and my worship.

Because of and With Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls This Christmas,

Joe

Loving Those Who Don't Love You

In 2 Peter 1:3, Peter writes, “By this divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of this marvelous glory and excellence.”

God has given us everything - understanding and power - to live a life that pleases God.

One of the main things that God has given us is love.

That is truly awesome!

Love for:

My wife

My children

My grandchildren

My faith family

My friends

But it is also love for my enemies and for those who persecute me.

Matthew 5:43-44

You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: “Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

God’s Word teaches us to love our neighbor and our enemy.

The world’s values say to love our neighbor hate our enemy.

We are doing a really good job of hating our enemies. It seems that when one person disagrees another person, or when one group disagrees with another group, we demonize the other person or other group. We can’t just disagree with them; we have to make them bad, horrible monsters.

Jesus says that we are to love our enemies.

Jesus says that we are to pray for those who persecute us.

Jesus says that when we do this, we show that we are sons of God.

Jesus points out that God the Father gives the blessing of sun and rain on the good and righteous as well as the evil and unrighteous.

This truth came to me this past week.

The American atheist’s organization has been paying for billboards around the country. They have one in Albuquerque. The billboard says, “Just skip church; it’s all fake news.”

When the news media asked some people about the billboard, most of them said that they did not support it. Some were very critical of the billboard and the group that supported putting it up. I have to admit that also was my first thought. Then God got my attention by bringing the Matthew passage to my mind.

God showed me those questions that Jesus asked in this passage.

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? – None!

Are not even the tax collectors doing that? – Yes!

And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? – Nothing!

Do not even pagans do that? – Yes!

So, if I am critical of those who are encouraging people to reject not just the church but the Head of the church, Jesus, because what the church teaches about Jesus is fake, then am I not being just like them? The answer is yes.

I believe that Jesus has called me to love those who think I am stupid and even evil for being a follower of Jesus.

I believe that Jesus has called me to pray for those who want to restrict or even do away with my freedom to proclaim Jesus as Lord.

Is that easy? No, it is not. The truth is that my natural inclination is to condemn and mock those who condemn and mock me.

The problem with that is twofold.

First, it is not demonstrating that I am a child of God. That action would not honor God, and the thing I am called to do above everything is honor God with how I live.

Second, it does not reflect the character of Jesus.

When Jesus is hanging on the cross, after He has been beaten, mocked, and flogged, He says, “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.”

So, as I listened to the news broadcast about the billboards, God spoke to me about being thankful for the billboard.

Thankful that the followers of Jesus in America are doing enough to make what we believe be seen in how we live.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living out a radical relationship with Jesus.

Thankful that the billboard will make people more aware that Christmas is about Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is making Christmas about Jesus.

Thankful that through the billboard the gospel has the opportunity to be shared more.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is using everything in our lives as followers of Jesus to share the good news.

I believe that what Jesus was telling me to do was defend the rights of this group to express their beliefs.

I know that most if not all atheists would not support my right to worship Jesus and proclaim Him. I will support an atheist’s right to not worship or believe in any supreme being and proclaim that.

I will pray that God would by His Spirit change their hearts, not for my sake but for theirs.

Lovingly and By God’s Power Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                   Joe

In His Image

In Genesis 1:26 God says that He will create humans in His image. He then creates humans in His image in verse 27.

In Romans 8:29 Paul says that God predestined those who know Him to be conformed to the image of Jesus.

So, what happened? If humans were created in God’s image, why is there a need to conform them to the image of Jesus? Aren’t they already formed in the image of Jesus?

No! Sin happened.

What has to happen for the image of Jesus to be formed in us?

First, we have to be regenerated.

In John 3:3 Jesus tells Nicodemus that he has to be born again. Nicodemus is confused and asks Jesus how it is possible that a grown person can born again. Jesus tells him that you have to be born of water (physical birth) and the Spirit (spiritual birth). Jesus also tells him that he should not be surprised at this.

Regeneration is experiencing a new spiritual birth by God’s Spirit.

In the 1980’s it became trendy to talk about being a “born-again” Christian.

The reality is that the only kind of Christian that really exists is a born-again Christian. Jesus makes it clear that to enter the kingdom of God you have to be born again.

Regeneration or being born again is a work of God alone. It is not something that we can do for ourselves. It is not something that God needs our help with.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being born again and thus experiencing a spiritual rebirth.

Second, there is sanctification.

Sanctification is the process of being transformed into the image of Jesus and being separated for God’s sole use.

For us to become like Jesus, we have to have a new birth and then enter into the lifelong process of being made like Him.

They are both essential.

They are connected.

They are different.

Regeneration is solely a work of God.

Sanctification is a work of God plus our cooperation.

Regeneration happens in an instant.

Sanctification is a lifelong process.

Regeneration is the beginning.

Sanctification is the rest of the story.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is letting God form in you the image of Jesus.

God is a very wise and practical God. He gives us in His Word a model of that a regenerated and sanctified person can follow.

In 1 Peter 2:21 we are told that we have been called because Jesus suffered for us and He is our example so we can follow in His steps.

The word translated example means the underwriting.

In New Testament times a teacher would write a word in wax and the student would trace or follow the letters in the word in the wax to learn how to write.

The student would follow the example of the teacher.

In the same way, Jesus is our teacher and we are His students or disciples and we live out our regeneration and sanctification by the Spirit giving us the understanding, desire, and enabling to follow Jesus’ example.

In Ephesians 5:1 Paul tells us that we are to be imitators of God. We are to follow the example of God.

In Ephesians 5:2 we are told that two of the ways we are to follow God’s example are in love and sacrifice.

We can see that love and sacrifice in the person of Jesus.

So, Peter and Paul agree that we are to follow the example of Jesus. That can only happen when God has regenerated us and the Spirit is sanctifying us.    

God’ Word shows us how Jesus lived, how He dealt with life’s issues and temptations. His Word also shows us His love for us shown by His death for our sin.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is following the example of Jesus, empowered by the Spirit.

Following Jesus’s Example Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls

                                                   Joe

LIfe or Death?

In Deuteronomy 30:15 Moses presents before the people of God a choice between life and death. In a few more verses, verse 19 to be exact, Moses encourages the people to choose life.

In 2 Peter 1:3 we are told that in Jesus we have all we need for godliness and for life.

So, in reality, Moses was telling God’s people to choose God because it is only in God that we have life.

We depend on many things, both good and bad, to bring real meaning to life.

Things like:

Family

Sex

Money

Religion

Material Things

Achievements

Good Deeds

The problem with any of those things is that they will let you down and not fulfill you. Again, it is only in Jesus that we find what fulfills us and will never let us down.

The thing that many look to for purposeful life is religion.

Romans 8:2

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

2 Corinthians 3:6

Who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

If we try to live by the letter of the law, it brings death.

There are two reasons that the law brings death.

First, we as humans are incapable of perfectly following the law, and that is what God requires if we are going to depend on the law.

Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned because we have not met the standard that God has set. That standard is perfection and only Jesus has ever perfectly fulfilled law by living it out. We are thus not capable of perfectly following the law because of our fallen nature.

Second, even if we could perfectly follow the law, the law cannot impart life. God is life and only He can give us life.

The choice is life or death.

God → Life

Law → Death

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is choosing Jesus and receiving life.

This truth is illustrated in the comparison of the Old Testament celebration of the Feast of Weeks and the New Testament celebration of Pentecost.

The Feast of Weeks comes fifty days after Passover and it marks when Moses received the law from God. When Moses came down from the mountain after receiving the law, the people had made other gods for themselves and were worshiping them. When Moses saw what was going on, he threw the stones tablets with the ten commandments and they broke. God then instructed Moses to have the Levities take their swords and go into the people and kill whoever they encountered. The result was that three thousand people died.

Pentecost, which is the Greek name for the Feast of Weeks and thus comes fifty days after Passover, was when the Spirit came to dwell in the lives of the followers of Jesus. When the Spirit came upon the believers, they went out among the people and spoke the Word of God with boldness. The result was that three thousand people came to new life in Jesus.

These two celebrations show that the law leads to death, but that the Spirit leads to life.

I tried for years to please God by trying to do all the right things that the Bible tells us that we should do. I experienced nothing but frustration and failure.

When God’s Spirit showed that I could not do it based in my ability and on my resources, I totally surrendered the authority and reasonability of my life over to Jesus. I had trusted Jesus as Savior and now I understood that I needed to let Him be the Lord of my life. Jesus, not me, needed to run my life. That is when I experienced freedom, peace, and fulfillment.

The law shows us our sin.

The Spirit bring forgiveness from sin and freedom to live in the reality of Jesus.

Picture it this way:

The law is like a stop sign. When we run past it without stopping, it shows us that we have broken the law.

The Spirit is like the judge who declares us guilty and then comes down from the bench, takes off his robes, and pays the fine for us. 

I pray you will choose the Spirit and thus choose life.

Choosing the Spirit, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                          Joe

The Bridegroom and the Bride

The names that the Bible gives the people of God are always relational in nature. We are called the church, which means a gathering of the called-out ones. We are called the family of God.  We are called the body of Christ. We are also called the bride of Christ.

Revelation 19:7

Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.

So, if we as the people of God are the bride of Christ, then the bridegroom is Jesus.

The Jewish wedding began with the groom going to the home of the bride.

Jesus, as our groom, made a trip from heaven to our home on the earth. He had to go one step further by also becoming a human.

Philippians 2:6-7

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Jesus (the groom) loves His bride (us) so much that He gave up the glories of heaven and became a human being and traveled to our home to be united with us.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is receiving Jesus as our bridegroom as He comes to us.

We as the bride cannot travel to Jesus our groom. We have to wait and be ready when He comes for us. We can never reach God by our own effort. We can only be united with Him through Jesus.

This all occurs because of God’s grace.

I have had many people kid me about marrying way above me. I cannot argue with that. When we unite ourselves with God through Jesus, we truly marry above ourselves. It is only because the groom invites us to be united with Him and the Father that we can.

John 6:44 says that no one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws the person to Him.

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:8-9 that it is by grace that we are saved.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging that it is the grace of God that draws us and unites us to Jesus.

What does the bride do when the groom comes? She opens her house to the groom.

When Jesus comes and invites us into relationship with Him, what are we to do? We open our lives to Him. We make Him the sole love of our lives. We love Jesus because He first loved us.

To the church at Ephesus Jesus writes that they had left their first love. They had abandoned their passionate devotion to Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living with a passionate devotion to Jesus.

When the groom comes to the bride and she lets him in, what do they do? They get married.

What does it mean to marry Jesus?

It means joining every part of your life and being – your deepest parts, your heart, your soul, your wounds, your longings, your desires, everything - to God. He is the only person who can make you complete. Only then can your deepest needs and longings be fulfilled.

The best picture of that is found in Psalm 42:1-2. It says, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is making Jesus the One you look to for fulfilling your life.

I love this picture of Jesus as the groom and us, His people, as the bride. I know how I love my wife and desire to meet her needs and fill her life with joy. I also know how much she loves me and desires to meet my needs and fill my life with joy. If we are who are fallible humans can do that, then God who is prefect can love me with a perfect love that casts out all fear.

With Jesus as Our Bridegroom Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                          Joe

Evil Is Real

I apologize for the devotion being late, but we have recently bought a new house. The house has an awesome deck which needed to be stained. Oh, did I mention that the deck is big and it took us more time than we anticipated to finish. (Even as I am writing this it is not finished.)

I believe that in every circumstance of our lives as followers of Jesus there are reasons for the circumstances. I realized Sunday night why God had delayed me in writing the devotion at my usual time.

Just as we were finishing staining the deck on Sunday evening, our neighbor asked if we had heard about the shooting at the church in Texas. She gave us the basic details. We watched the story that night on the news and my heart broke for the church and the community. And my heart broke for that pastor.

I know how I feel about my church. It is truly my family. These people who were killed are just names to those of us who are physically removed from that community. They are friends and family members to those who live in the community. They are family and part of the flock that God had entrusted to that pastor to shepherd. I can feel the intense hurt and pain in this man’s life and the loss he feels.

1 Peter 5:1-3 says, “So I exhort elders among you, as a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”

That church was the loving responsibility of that pastor and the brokenness he is experiencing is huge.

I realized as I listened to the story of the shooting that as I taught my faith family on Sunday morning that Satan is a murderer, that murderer had placed in the heart of a person focused on hate and evil to go and kill some of my brothers and sisters.

I listened to the story of the shooting and I realized something else. I realized that we as a nation are still not getting it. We are not comprehending the truth.

This is not about gun control.

This is not about mental illness.

This is about a culture, the American culture that is a fallen culture.

All cultures are fallen. And the only solution to the evil, hatred, and violence in our culture is a spiritual awakening in our country.

America needs a spiritual revolution. We need to turn from man-based ideas, man-based principles, and man-based solutions to Jesus-based ideas, Jesus-based principles, and Jesus-based solutions.

For America to experience that type of radical change, the church in America has to experience revival.

In 1 Peter 4:17 we are told that judgment begins with the house of God, the people of God. The change that has to occur in this nation, if it is to last as a nation, will also have to begin with the people of God.

I have been praying for revival and encouraging my faith family to pray for revival for about 20 years. I have to admit that I was not real sure what revival would look like as I began to pray. But over the years God has given me five things that I believe revival will do for the church, God’s people.

First, revival will bring a passion for Jesus to His people. The early church taught Jesus. They were fiercely focused on Jesus and His kingdom. They did not teach conservative values, they did not teach hope in a human based government, they did not teach self-help philosophy. They taught and lived out Jesus.

Second, a commitment to the Gospel. In Romans 1:16 Paul says that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The Gospel is the good news that God became a human, Jesus. That Jesus lived a perfect sinless life, that He died for every human being’s sin, that He rose from the tomb, that He ascended to the Father and is alive and making intercession for us right now. That Jesus is the only way that we will be saved, experiencing eternal life and knowing peace and freedom on this earth. That will be interpreted as narrow and exclusive. It is not, but some will try to make it look that way. The Gospel will also be offensive to some. But we are to still be absolutely committed to the Gospel and proclaim it.

Third, a love for each other and for the lost. In John 13:35 Jesus says that love for each other as His followers will be the mark that shows the world we are His followers. We need to quit fighting among ourselves. We need to stop declaring denominationalism and come together united in Jesus as the Savior and Lord. We need to stop fighting over trivial things and love each other as Jesus loves. We also have to stop condemning those who are not followers of Jesus. They are not the enemy but are victims of the lies of Satan. We are commanded to love and pray for those who hate us and who would persecute us. Loving others, not judging and condemning them, will draw them to Jesus.

Fourth, an excitement over what God is doing. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy. Being excited and joyful over what God is doing demonstrates that God’s Spirit is working in our lives. Anyone can find things that are wrong or bad. A negative spirit and view of life does not reflect the truth and love of Jesus. I am convinced that God is doing a lot more than we as His people are giving Him credit for.

Fifth, a total surrender to the will of God. We have been created and live for the glory of Jesus. We are not here to seek our preference or our comfort or our will. We are here to seek out and live out Jesus’ will.

Revival is coming!

Spiritual awakening is coming!

The desire of my heart is for you and me to experience revival and see Jesus bring spiritual awakening to this nation.

I have been praying for the community of Sutherland Springs and for First Baptist Church two scriptures.

Philippians 4:6-7: That they would not be fearful or hopeless, but that God would guard their hearts and minds and give them a peace through Jesus that blows the world away.

Romans 8:28: That God would bring something out of this circumstance that would bless First Baptist and bring not only healing but an extraordinary work of God.

I want to encourage you to pray also for revival for God’s church and for spiritual awakening for our nation.

Prayerfully Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe