Jim Wilson's Blog, page 22

From Everlasting to Everlasting

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout allgenerations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth andthe world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:1-2).

“But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is withthose who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children”(Psalm 103:17).

God’s everlastingness has been extended to us who believe.It includes everlasting joy and everlasting kindness. “His love enduresforever” (Psalm 136). Thank God!

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Recommended Readings on Personal Evangelism

Two life-changing readings took place in my life in the Fallof 1955.

The first was my second reading of Dynamic of Service.This book is a series of lectures on personal evangelism given by Paget Wilkesto fellow missionaries from several missions in Karuizawa, Japan, in 1920. Ithink that it is the best book on the subject.

The second was reading and studying Acts 8, 9 and 10. Thiswas brought to my attention by a missionary in Japan. The following is a pieceof his teaching:

In chapter 8, take the time to see how God led Philip to theEthiopian and the Ethiopian to Philip. In chapter 9, God led Saul of Tarsus toAnanias and Ananias to Saul. Chapter 10 tells us how God led Cornelius to Peterand Peter to Cornelius. In each of these stories, the unbeliever was saved. Godknew that each of them was ripe for the harvest. God led them to the harvesterand the harvester to the ripe harvest. From a human point of view, each of themwas an unlikely candidate for immediate salvation.

After you study these three chapters, consider thepossibility that there is a ripe harvest near you. Please ask God to lead theharvest to you and you to the harvest. Do not be surprised when God answersyour prayer.

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentifulbut the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send outworkers into his harvest field’” (Matthew 9:37-38).

This post coordinates with today and tomorrow's readings in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Ripe for Harvest: Prepared to Give an Answer

As you read throughthe book of Acts, look at every conversion, and see what happened right beforeit: what was said, who said it. The situations are the same today.    

A long time ago, myduty in the Officer’s Christian Fellowship was the east coast of the UnitedStates. I went to an officer’s office at Fort Lee, VA, and stayed overnight,then I went on to Norfolk and Fort Bragg.  

Forty years later, Iwas no longer on the staff of OCF, but I had to go to Denver. While I was inDenver, I checked in at the OCF offices. There was the same Air Force officer Ihad met in Fort Lee, retired now, a colonel. I had stayed in his house when hewas a first lieutenant. He asked me, “Do you know what happened when you stayedovernight?”

I said, “No, I justremember staying in your home.”

He said, “You ledthe next-door neighbor to Christ.” I had no memory of it.  

Ten years after that,I was speaking at a banquet at the Hotel Salisbury, and who was there but thisAir Force colonel’s wife. She came up to me and said, “You’re the man who ledDr. So-and-so to Christ.”

One remembered thisevent forty years afterwards, and the other remembered it 50 years afterwards.They told me, “When we moved to Fort Lee, we decided to be the best officer’sfamily on the base as a Christian.”

I said, “It lookslike you were, and this next-door neighbor was waiting six months for you totell him how to be like you.” I showed up, and he fell into the Kingdom. Theythought it was unusual. It isn’t. The world is full of people saying, “Whatmust I do to be saved?” If you are living like a Christian, they see yourhappiness, they see your character, they see all kinds of things you probablydon’t realize, and they want answers, although they might not want to ask forthem.

When I was still amidshipman, one of my classmates came to see me about some trouble he washaving. He was about ready to get kicked out of the Academy, and he thought Iwas the person to see. But he had been giving me a bad time all the time forbeing a Christian. Non-Christians will give you a bad time because they knowyou’re different. They don’t want to give you any credit for it—until they getin trouble. Then they come to you, because they know you’ve done somethingright, and they hope you will have answers for them.

“Always be preparedto give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope thatyou have” (1 Pet. 3:15).

 

Written 2022.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Don't Follow the World

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

“Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among youtoday whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the godsof those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces suchbitter poison” (Deuteronomy 29:18).

John and Moses, fourteen hundred years apart, warned againstturning to idols. The warning is needed today among evangelicals.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no othername under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

This verse should be memorized by all Christians everywhere.

Present-day turning to idols starts with relativism, thenadjusting to the world to reach the world, then syncretism, then idolatry.

This post coordinates with tomorrow's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Favorite Verses

Here are a few favorite verses of mine.

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare toyou: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who isthe image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, andourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shineout of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light ofthe knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we havefellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us fromall sin” (1 John 1:7). 

“In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and ofChrist Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the goodconfession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until theappearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his owntime—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, whoalone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seenor can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen” (1 Timothy 6:13-16).

Written October 2008.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Defender of the Fatherless, the Widow, the Alien

“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, thegreat God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien,giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for youyourselves were aliens in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19).

"And you are to love those who are aliens."

If we were to characterize all of history in all nations, itwould be, "Hate the aliens." God's directions are contrary to theworld's. On the whole, Christians do not hate aliens. They just ignore or avoidthem. That is saying that neither do Christians love aliens. Please prayfor an opportunity to love an alien.

 

Written August 1994.

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How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

A Sure Thing

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But thegreatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).

Somehow, we have known that faith and loveremain. We have had our doubts about hope. Perhaps it is because we haveplaced a 21st-century definition on hope. For instance, wemay say something like, “I hope so,” meaning, “I wish it would happen, but itprobably won’t.” To us, hope is wishy and doubtful. That is why it doesn’tsound like it belongs with faith and love.

In the Bible, hope is not wishy; it is a sure thing.

“God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in whichit is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hopeoffered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for thesoul, firm and secure” (Heb. 6:18-19).

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared toall men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and tolive self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while wewait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior,Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and topurify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good”(Titus 2:11-14).

Notice:

·      Hope is firm and secure.

·      Hope is blessed.

·      Hope is future.

·      Hope is centered on the appearing of JesusChrist.

In other words, hope, as spoken about in the Bible,is a glad anticipation of a future certainty, the return of Jesus Christ.

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await aSavior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Example & Imitation

Example and imitation are not just the best means ofteaching and learning: they are commanded in Scripture.

“Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care,serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as Godwants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it overthose entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3).

“Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I amsending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. Hewill remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what Iteach everywhere in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:16-17).

“Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or thechurch of God—even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am notseeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow myexample, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:32-11:1).

“Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young,but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith andin purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving eachother, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, asdearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gavehimself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians4:32-5:2).

Who are we to imitate? Timothy, Paul, Jesus Christ, and God.What are we to imitate? Speech, life, love, faith, purity, forgiveness,pleasing everyone. Why? So that many will be saved.

We cannot get graduate degrees in these subjects. Thedegrees are not offered. We get these by the Holy Spirit as we imitate Jesusand those who imitate Him.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Sinful Loyalties

“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord JesusChrist, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be nodivisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind andthought…What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘Ifollow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paulcrucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:10,12-13).

This appeal is followed by information on the divisions inthe church. These divisions were not on theology or ecclesiology. The quarrelssimply were about loyalties to teachers. To our knowledge, the teacherswere even in fellowship with each other. These loyalties were sins and were tobe repented of and forsaken. They were the cause of the divisions, thedisunity.

Today, such loyalties are still one of the major causes ofdivision in the church. However, today loyalty is a good word; it is considereda virtue. When it comes to following teachers, however, loyalty is not avirtue. It is a sin; and it is hard to confess something as sin when we thinkit is a virtue. Nevertheless, confession of this sin must happen.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

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Setting a Condemning Heart to Rest

“Dear children, let us not lovewith words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we knowthat we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presencewhenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and heknows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we haveconfidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey hiscommands and do what pleases him” (1 John 3:18-22).

There are two expressions in these few sentences, oneseemingly disturbing, and the other reassuring. They are “whenever our heartscondemn us” and “if our hearts do not condemn us.”

The second expression is the reassuring one. It is connectedwith confidence, answered prayer, and obedience. It is wonderful to be in astate where our hearts do not condemn us. However, with some of God’s people,the disturbing expression seems to be true more of the time. They have heartsthat condemn them.

There is something else, however, that takes the disturbingand makes it reassuring, and that is the main purpose of the passage:

“Dear children, let us not lovewith words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we knowthat we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in hispresence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than ourhearts, and he knows everything.”

How do we take a condemning heart and set it at rest in God’spresence? God is greater than our hearts. The heart is not a legitimatecondemner or non-condemner. It’s not always correct. God is in the business ofsetting our hearts at rest in His presence.

 

Written May 1983.

This post coordinates with tomorrow's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships