“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Jesus showed his great love for his Father and for us by leaving his exalted place in heaven, at His Father’s side, to become flesh and to live alongside us on this corrupted earth. He knew his destiny was to be reviled and ultimately to suffer a most brutal death at the hands of his enemies. Why would Jesus do this? Why would God ask his beloved only Son to do this? Because this was the plan all along.

God is love; He is also just. All the way back in Genesis 3:15, God promised Adam and Eve that the seed (Jesus) of the woman (Eve) would crush the head of the serpent (Satan). Even though we live in a corrupted world, God’s ultimate plan is to eliminate corruption, to eliminate Satan as the evil force and to restore the earth to a place of purity and peace.

So, to complete this series of devotions from Romans 12 about “Love in Action” as we seek to grow in sanctification—to grow more Christlike, we read the following passage:

Verse 17-18: Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 

Verse 19-20: Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Verse 21: Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.

This is basically a two-fold instruction which aligns with Jesus’ two-fold coming. With Jesus first coming, he brought salvation. Because of God’s great love for us, he sent his Son to save us from our sins. And then Jesus commanded us to love others as he first loved us. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34). He commanded us to turn the other cheek, to do unto others what we would have them do to us, and to overcome evil with good. He set the example by laying down his life for us in humble obedience to His Father.

With Jesus’ second coming, he will proclaim the great day of the Lord, when divine judgment will take place. “That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes” (Jeremiah 46:10).

What is our takeaway? First, to demonstrate our love and gratitude for what Jesus has done for us, let us go out of our way to demonstrate radical love: love even for our enemies. Treat everyone with humility and respect. Second, we must not take matters of revenge and vengeance into our own hands. Doing so minimizes what Jesus came to do. He came to put everything under his feet, and when we try to do that instead, we are demonstrating a lack of faith that Jesus will take care of these matters on our behalf. Indeed, in His perfect timing, He already has.

Following these instructions gives us the proper perspective on our sanctification. As we grow in the image of Christ our Savior, we truly understand that we only have one enemy, and that is Satan. When we sincerely show our love for God and His Son and seek to obey Him, we are aligning ourselves against Satan. We hate what is evil (v. 9), we do not become an agent for evil ourselves in repaying anyone evil for evil (v. 17), and we flip evil on its head by overcoming evil with good (v. 21).

So, when we worship the baby Jesus, let us remember that this baby was placed here on earth be love, to be good, to overcome evil with good. Let us remember and take to heart what Isaiah prophesied about the coming Messiah (Isaiah 61:1-2): “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn….“

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

In Christ,

Judy

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).

In the last few devotionals, we have been discussing sanctification, which is defined as growing more Christlike. “Love in action” is the way we continue to grow in our Christlikeness, our sanctification. In other words, this is how we apply the teaching to our own lives to conform to the image of Christ. We are continuing in Romans Chapter 12 with Paul’s specific instructions on Love in Action:

“Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited (Romans 12:13-16).

Do you see a theme here? We cannot be followers of Jesus in isolation. We become Christlike by living lovingly in community. For some, this may be natural. For others it will be challenging. I love to hear stories about bringing people into one’s home from off the street, feeding and meeting their needs. That is not me, at least not naturally. But it can be all of us if we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to show this supernatural love. And we must not discriminate: we are to share with those in need, bless those who persecute us, mourn with those who mourn, and associate with those in more lowly positions than our own. In the words of Jesus (from Luke 6:31-36:

 Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

We are not to be partial; we are not to discriminate. Praise the Lord that Jesus is obedient to His Father in showing mercy to each of us with His sacrificial love, when we certainly are not worthy. So let us follow in His footsteps, becoming more Christlike, showing sacrificial love to others.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

In Christ,

Judy

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).

In the last few devotionals, we have been discussing sanctification, which is defined as growing more Christlike. Christ himself tells us that the two greatest commands are to love God and to love one another. “Love in action” is the way we continue to grow in our Christlikeness, our sanctification. In other words, this is how we apply the teaching to our own lives to conform to the image of Christ.

The passage above begins with the transition word “therefore.” Paul is transitioning from the first eleven chapters of Romans on the doctrines of the sovereignty of God, sin, salvation, faith, grace, etc. Then, in light of these great truths, Paul tells us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. He compares the church to a human body, working together in unity based on the unique gifting of each believer. In the second half of chapter 12, he gives us specific instructions on “love in action:”

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 9-12).

First, love must be from the heart: real, not faked, not an act. Our motives must be pure. This is harder than it sounds. In fact, this is impossible without the support of the Holy Spirit. As humans, other than the love for our own children, our love for others often has a self-serving component.

To love as Jesus loves, we must have a right perspective of ourselves, which requires prayerful intention and wisdom. Made in the image of God, all humans have equal value before God. We are not to look down on others, but instead to honor one another above ourselves. Can you imagine what a wonderful place earth would be if everyone loved like that, like Jesus does?

This passage gives us some additional qualities to pursue in our goal of sanctification. We are to zealously serve the Lord, to be joyful, patient, and faithful regardless of our circumstances. Faith is a gift of God. Joy, patience, and faithfulness are fruits of the spirit. Many scriptures reaffirm these qualities. In other words, we can only exhibit these qualities under the power and with the strength provided by the Holy Spirit.

If you are seriously reading this right now, if you are like me, you may feel overwhelmed, you perhaps even feel like a total failure. It is a really high bar to love like Jesus; sometimes, it is even too high a bar to want to love like Jesus. That is where the daily discipline of confession, prayer, and Bible study will change the desires of our heart and our ability to produce these qualities in ever increasing measure. As Paul says, we must press on toward the goal.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

In Christ,
Judy

P.S.: If you would like to talk more about any of these devotions or matters that concern you, please stop by my office, or call or text me at 615-804-3453 to arrange a time, and I will be happy to speak with you.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).

We are in the middle of a series of devotions on sanctification. As we learned in an earlier Chaplain’s Corner, even though we have been set apart — or sanctified — positionally as God’s holy people, there is no question that we continue to sin. That is why God calls us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our ongoing sanctification with a goal of becoming more like Jesus Christ.  In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Paul addresses these “holy and faithful” brothers and sisters in Christ, expressing his gratefulness for them and his ongoing prayers for them. This is a very practical letter, full of instructions. We would do well to heed these instructions ourselves.

He first gives us instructions about what to stop doing. They are very clear, and I doubt if anyone would argue with them. While none of us would say these are good things to do, what we may find ourselves thinking or saying is “that’s not so bad” because in the current culture, these are the behaviors that make us fit right in. But here is the deal, first, the Word of God tells us point-blank that these things bring on the wrath of God, and secondly, they are evidence that we are not growing in the image of Christ, which is sanctification. We learned in “Sharing the Gospel” training that it is essential to our witness that we do not discredit our personal testimony or the integrity of the Mission by our attitude, speech, or actions. Satan is fighting us all the way on these things. We need to see this situation for what it is and know that we have the power to overcome all evil through Jesus Christ our Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit. Here are the commands right out of God’s Word to us:

What Not to Do: – Sins of the body, mind, and mouth (Colossians 3:5-11):

• Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
• But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
• Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

What to Do Instead (Colossians 3:12-15):

• Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
• Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
• And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
• Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.
• And be thankful.

Let us prayerfully and faithfully commit to these things and let us lovingly encourage one another to grow in our Christlikeness, all for the glory of God.

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:16-17).

In Christ,

Judy

P.S.: If you would like to talk more about any of these devotions or matters that concern you, please stop by my office, or call or text me at 615-804-3453 to arrange a time, and I will be happy to speak with you.

“Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).

As we read in the devotion last week, the goal of our progressive sanctification is to conform increasingly to the image of Christ. The passage above tells us much about this Christ to whom we wish to conform. Some words that come to mind that correspond to His humility are obedience and submission. Jesus submitted willingly and lovingly to His Father in total obedience, even death on a cross, for your sake and mine. This gets to me every time. Jesus did this for me!

In Revelation, we see Jesus in two quite different ways. I like to visualize him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, coming in all majesty and splendor leading the armies of Heaven (Revelation 19:11-16). But the other image of Jesus that we see is what actually made him worthy to usher in the events that would culminate in the New Heaven and New Earth—the image of Him as the slain Lamb of God, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.  We can readily picture a sweet lamb, and we can probably picture a sacrificial lamb on the altar. But this image in Revelation 5:6-9 runs counter to our experience, a lamb that is fully alive while exhibiting all the fatal wounds of his death.

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

When we think of unpleasant jobs, the job of trash collector, animal control, or prison guard might come to mind. Having to deal with nasty objects or convicted felons is not pleasant. And what about at the Mission? There are plenty of potentially unpleasant jobs around the Mission. Not meaning to exclude anyone else, I want to call out everyone who has cleaned a bathroom or any area where a guest or participant has been sick or messy. I want to recognize those who do the laundry, who sort through the myriads of donations of food, clothing, and other items. I want to encourage those who deal with guests or participants who for whatever reason are not able to properly care for themselves (you know what I mean).

As unpleasant as these jobs may be, they do not even begin to compare with how Jesus dealt with us in our sin. He died on the cross for sinners, those who disregard the laws of God, who commit sins at every level, who make themselves abhorrent to God. Let us face it, it is our sin that separates us from God, because God cannot tolerate sin. And yet, that is why Jesus gave His life. He humbled himself to deal with the messiest of the messy, the vilest of the vile, to offer his blood to redeem us from eternal torment into a beautiful eternal life with Him in eternity. He loves us just that much.

It takes many of you willing to do those unpleasant, humbling jobs so prevalent at Nashville Rescue Mission. Did you ever think that this was the road to sanctification? Just has Jesus humbled himself to save us from our sin, you are humbling yourselves to lead others to Him.

I will close with another important facet of humility, and that is gratitude. When we genuinely offer thanks, it is an act of receiving and then acknowledging and submitting to the mercy and kindness of another. As we celebrate this week of Thanksgiving, let us do so with all humility and remember to be grateful for the debt that Jesus paid obediently and lovingly on our behalf to rescue us from the fiery grave.

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:3-5).

In Christ,

Judy

P.S.: If you would like to talk more about any of these devotions or matters that concern you, please stop by my office, or call or text me at 615-804-3453 to arrange a time, and I will be happy to speak with you.