Joy in Affliction

This week in my time with God, I ran across 3 verses in 3 consecutive chapters of 2 Corinthians that all speak of having joy in the midst of affliction.

“sorrowful, yet always rejoicing”  (2 Cor. 6:10)

“in all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy” (2 Cor. 7:4).

“for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy” (2 Cor. 8:2)

This really hit me.  How radical is that?  To be in some kind of affliction, trial, or hardship and yet have joy!  That is supernatural.  Indeed it is. God calls us to a supernatural and radical life. 

So, how can we have joy in the midst of afflictions?

1.     Joy is internal, whereas affliction is external.  Certainly affliction can be internal, but much affliction comes from external circumstances.  Here is my definition of biblical joy:  Joy is an inward state of contentment and satisfaction in the Lord, regardless of what is happening in my life.  And we all know this can only come about as a “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5).

2.     Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, who is more powerful than any affliction we could experience.  “Greater is He that is in me than ….” (1 Jn. 4:4). All that has been talked about here is a supernatural work of God, and He does this through His indwelling Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus is alive within every Christ-follower (Eph. 1:13; Rom. 8:9-11).

3.     Joy is based on a constant, and affliction is constantly changing.  Affliction and difficult situations are constantly changing, but the joy we can have in the Lord is based on the stable and consistent presence of God.

4.     Joy comes from the positive things that God accomplishes through our affliction.  It is in hardships that we often get to know God better and become more like Christ.  “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces …..” (James 1; Romans 5).  God uses affliction to deepen our character and our compassion for other hurting people.

5.     Joy is based on what is eternal, but affliction is temporal.  This is not to minimize the pain that some go through, but we must always keep the temporal and eternal in perspective.  We serve the eternal God who has promised us His eternal presence and an eternal home with Him in heaven.  No matter what happens, hardships are temporary.  The worse that could happen is for us to actually loose our life or be martyred.  And yet, that would be victory because we would then go to be with the Lord.  “For I consider that this light and momentary affliction is not worth comparing to the eternal weight of glory being revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).  It was the martyred missionary Jim Elliot who once said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

May you experience joy amidst affliction in the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God!

Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment

Hosea 1 provides an amazing picture of the Gospel of Jesus.  How can this be?  It was written over 700 years before Christ was born.  Indeed it was, but remember Jesus said that the entire Old Testament is about Him (see Luke 24:44). 

Here is how the Gospel of Jesus is seen in Hosea 1.  We are all sinful (Romans 3:23) in that we commit spiritual whoredom “by forsaking the Lord” (Hosea 1:2).  The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and this judgment for sin came upon the children born to Gomer.  They were called “no mercy” and “not my people” (Hosea 1:6, 9).  We deserve no mercy and to NOT be God’s children because of our sin.

However, God is quick to come with grace by declaring that “no mercy” will “receive mercy” and “not my people” will become “children of the living God” (Hosea 2:1, 23).  This mercy is possible because there is “one head” (Hosea 1:11), and His name is Jesus, the Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22).  It is because we have a living God that all of this mercy is possible.  It is because Jesus is alive that we can be forgiven (1 Cor. 15).

Finally, once someone comes to faith in Christ and receives His mercy, they are declared a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).  Our new identity in Christ is spoken of in Romans 9:25 and 1 Peter 2:10, where both Peter and Paul quote from Hosea 1.  How cool is that!!!  Of all the places in the Old Testament to support salvation by grace through faith, and to speak of how we receive a new nature when we receive His mercy, they both go to Hosea.

For more on how mercy triumphs over judgment, you can listen to my sermon at:  http://www.livinghopeathens.org/grace-triumphs-over-judgment/

Bother God in Prayer

“because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice” – Luke 18:5

Do you ever feel like your prayers bother God?  Have you ever heard someone say, “You don’t need to keep asking God.  If you have prayed once, then from that point on just thank Him that the answer is coming; otherwise you aren’t praying in faith.”?  I understand this rational, but Luke 11:5-13 and Luke 18:1-8 teach us that certain things are only attained as we persistently pray and bother God!!!

Recently the Lord spoke to me from these two passages, and I have now made a “bother God” card.  This card is where I list those things I am going to keeping asking, keep knocking, and keeping seeking the Lord about.  These are prayer requests that I believe honor God and His kingdom, and I am going to repeatedly ask until they are answered, or until God shows me to quit asking for some reason.  Do you have a “bother God” list?  If not, I encourage you to start one.

Luke 11:8 uses the word “impudence” to speak of persistent prayer.  This is the only time this Greek word is used in the New Testament.  It is made up of two words:  “not” and “sense of shame or honor, modesty, bashfulness”.  Put together this word means to not have bashfulness or shame in coming to God.  Come boldly. Come persistently.  Come naked and unashamed.  Keep knocking on the door of heaven until you get an answer…for His glory!  Wrestle with God.  Bother God with your requests!

Then in Luke 18 we have the more familiar passage about the “persistent widow” who kept coming to the unjust judge until she got what she needed.  And Jesus tells us that God will “give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night” (v. 7). 

I believe there are mighty answers to pray that await those who will “always pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).  Make your “bother God” list and keep pounding on the doors of heaven!

Marry a Prostitute???

“Marry a prostitute?  Are you kidding me?”  Hosea must have thought this as God gave him the charge to do just that.  And God wasn’t kidding when He told Hosea to do this.  Furthermore, Hosea was charged with loving her despite her repeated unfaithfulness.  And if this were not enough, he was not only to remain faithful to her, but also allure her back when she was wayward. 

Why would God have him do this?  For one simple reason:  to show the kind of love He has for us, even when we are unfaithful to Him.  “Nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8).

All of us are spiritual harlots at one time or another, and yet God continues to love us, remain steadfastly committed to us, and allures us by His Spirit to come back.  How crazy is this?!  What a radical book Hosea is.  What a radical love story in the book of Hosea.  What a radical God, who has radical love for us.

To understand the book of Hosea it is crucial to know that God likens our relationship with Him to a marriage.  “For your Maker is your husband” (Isa. 54:5).  “Come and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:5).  This reveals how close God desires to be with us.  It shows how intimate He wants our relationship to be with Him.  It also shows why He would call it whoredom if we give our love and devotion to someone or something more than to Him.  “For the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord” (Hosea 1:2).

Throughout this great story in the Bible, we will discover how God loves us despite our unfaithfulness to Him, and also how this amazing love demands a response, and that response is that we would forsake our other “lovers” and be steadfastly devoted to Him. 

May the revelation of God’s love motivate you to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

For more on the book of Hosea and to hear my opening sermon on this book, go to:  http://www.livinghopeathens.org/marry-a-prostitute-really/

Jesus from Genesis to Revelation

 John 5:39-40 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Luke 24:44-46 Jesus said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.  Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day

Jesus tells us in these two passages that the entire Old Testament is about Him.  And we also know the entire New Testament is about Him. Therefore, both the entire Bible is about Jesus!  Really?  Yes.  But how can this be when the Old Testament was written between 400 and 1400 BC.?  This is only possible if the Bible has a divine author.  I believe it does.

For me personally, it was when I saw how the entire Bible pointed to Jesus that I was convinced it is the Word of God and Jesus is the Son of God.  What about you?  Do you believe the Bible is God’s Word?  Do you believe Jesus is God’s Son?  Have you ever been shown how Jesus is revealed in every book of the Bible? 

Recently I preach on how Jesus is revealed in every book of the Bible. I encourage you to listen to this message at http://www.livinghopeathens.org/category/sermons/ and let me know what you think. Email me at davidholt08@gmail.com. 

If you have questions, I would love to hear them. I am convinced that wisdom begins with a well-asked question, and truth is never afraid of a question.