When I explained to our grandson that Papa Gary had gone to be with Jesus in heaven, the five-year-old asked, “How did he do that?”  How might we approach God and stay in His holy presence?  Who has the privilege of ascending His holy mountain and basking in His holy presence?  Only those with clean hands and pure heart.  Only those who have been washed in the blood of Christ Jesus. May you know Him, may you seek Him, may He dwell within you, may He fully transform you.  Amen.

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We are called to obedience to Christ Jesus’ holy word and, as the collective Body of Christ, we are called to go everywhere making disciples and teaching everyone who is being transformed in and through Christ Jesus to observe His holy commands.  As individuals we are not each called to go everywhere, but we are called to serve where we are. I fail at this every day.  But these are our marching orders given by our Lord and Savior.  By His mercy and grace, may we each be faithful to His holy calling.  Amen.

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God’s holy word reminds us that everyone who is in Christ Jesus is a new creation. The old has passed away. This is an amazing gift from God. He is merciful and gracious. Through Christ Jesus, we are made new, we are given new life, and we are reconciled with God the Father, and He gives us “the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).

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Throughout Scripture we see God, the holy Creator of everything with power beyond our ability to imagine, desiring relationship with humans.  And He promises over and over His desire for us to be His people and His desire to be our God.  He desires to dwell with us and in us.  He desires relationship with us.  We must merely surrender fully to Christ Jesus and allow His holy transformation of our hearts to occur.  He wants to be our God.  He wants to be your God.  He wants each of us to be His.  I pray we each have eyes to see and ears to hear His holy message to His people.  Amen.

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Focused on eternity, Jesus urges members of the congregation to “buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich…” (Revelation 3:18).  Jesus alone is the cure.  Jesus alone offers true, satisfying and lasting wealth.  And we purchase His gold by surrendering ourselves to Him, by offering ourselves as holy living sacrifices, by relinquishing prideful delusions of self-righteousness, by following Him.

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We must keep our focus on God and declare to everyone around us who God is, proclaiming to every generation God’s power to all those who come.  May you continue pursuing God and His holy calling.  Amen.

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Joy is an attribute of Christ Jesus’ holy indwelling within us.  One of the many positive qualities occurring with people within whom He abides is that His joy permeates within them.  Joy is an element of His presence. Jesus makes remarkable promises.  No matter what you are going through, you have access to His joy.  His joy permeates those who dwell in him.

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Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith.  After He bestows the gift of faith upon us, He continues working within us, growing, strengthening, and perfecting our faith.  Faith is a gift from Christ Jesus, and as we move from infancy to maturity in faith, with His holy presence growing increasingly within us, our spirits and souls are continuously transformed, gradually made holier, moving toward sanctification.  It is Christ Jesus, not us.  It is His holy presence, His being, Him abiding within us, gradually transforming us into His holy image. 

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Looking to Jesus.  It is at once simple and daunting and effective.  It begins with turning to Jesus, which is the heart of repentance, and then continuously fixing our gaze on Him.  By looking to Him we are saved, yet this is no mere glance.

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Why does Jesus push her away?  He pushes her away to draw her in closer.  And He does the same for us.  This is the blessing of suffering, the blessing of the wilderness.  Why does God at times seem distant?  To draw us closer, to help our faith grow, to force our roots to grow deeper, so that we will seek Him with greater intensity.

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The cross is the place evil, wrath, love and mercy converge.  Through Christ Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, we are saved, granted life, new life, life abundant, eternal life.  Through Christ Jesus we commune with God.  Through the darkest of darkness, the most horrific evil ever committed on earth, we discover mercy, love, light and life.  We enter His joy, His peace, His rest.  We move from death to life.  We find Paradise.

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Through the events we see the pinnacle, the climax of Jesus’ teaching that week, and we see Jesus in the place where we should all strive to be – face down, praying, “Not as I will, but as you will.”  Totally surrendered to the Father, not out of obligation, but love.  But how can we possibly get to that place? Through continuous communion with Him through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Communion with Him through prayer, by studying His holy word, through Godly fellowship, through service, and by intentionally remembering.  “Not as I will, but as you will.”

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We have unprecedented access to God’s holy word, which is the truth.  If we fail to hear, understand, speak, and obey His holy word, we are not of the truth, and God will reject and forsake us. 

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God became flesh and lived on earth.  Jesus was fully human and fully God.  Take a moment and let that sink in.  Jesus was fully human and fully God. After living on earth for a time, He voluntarily died for us and conquered death. These are the most significant events in human history because Jesus is God.

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The message of repentance runs throughout Scripture.  God calls everyone to repent, to turn to Him. 

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Jesus says those who believe will do His works on earth, and those who love Him will keep His commandments.  It is possible some, if not many, claim association with Him yet do neither.

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Let’s briefly consider some of the other passages that lead me to see the process as follows:  when we believe we relinquish our old life and receive new life in and through Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within our spirits starting the process of spiritual transformation leading to gradually increasing holiness, righteousness and Godliness.  Our new life reveals itself through our actions, which include hospitability and compassion.  Hospitality does not replace righteousness as the standard; rather, hospitality is one aspect of the totality of physical evidence revealing our new life in Christ Jesus.

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God’s holy word describes Christ Jesus as the founder and perfecter of our faith (see Hebrews 12:2).  Faith starts with God.  Salvation starts with God.  Sanctification is through God’s holy grace.  We cause none of it.  It all begins with God and leads to God glorified.  Praise be to God!

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Scripture contains quite a few stories that shock our conscience.  Today, we will consider one that is particularly shocking because it describes God in a heavenly council meeting, authorizing an evil lying spirit to speak through prophets, with the goal of leading King Ahab to his destruction.  The evil lying spirit went out into the world with God’s permission, did what it does, and God’s will was accomplished through it – his judgment was enacted.

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In two paragraphs in 2 Kings 2 we see a thread of God’s presence, power, provision, promise and purpose running from Moses to Joshua to Elijah to Elisha to Jesus to the Apostles to the church, which includes us.  The thread of God demonstrating His presence and power through His people runs from Moses to us here today.  This is a message of incredible hope that should give you the confidence to face whatever it is that God calls you to face today.

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