We all need encouragement.  I had not really realized that so much could come from the Book of Revelation.  I guess I never thought about it much, thinking that the Book of Revelation was a forth-telling of times yet to come.  Yet, the more I look there, the more I find encouragement.  I hope you are finding it there too.  In Revelation 1:3, we see that a blessing is pronounced on those who read it and obey it.  In just the first five chapters, I have already been blessed!  Revelation 5:8 happens to be very encouraging to me.  I think you will be encouraged too.  Our prayers are held in golden bowls.  They are incense.  Our prayers are precious to God and He considers them a sweet smelling fragrance!

Prayer is so important in the life of a believer.  Jesus gave us instructions on how to pray. (Matthew 6:9-13)  He also lived a life of example for us.  He would rise up early and go alone to pray.  (Mark 1:35)  If Jesus, being God's Son, felt it important to stay in intimate communication with His Father, how much more should we?  We all need to have one on one communication with the Lord. (Matthew 6:6)  There are just some things that we can't talk to anyone else about.  It's just a secret between us and our Father.  He never fails to answer those prayers prayed in secret.  When He does, we can't help but know that it came from Him!  It's your prayers (and mine) that are held in the golden bowls that go up as incense before God.  (Revelation 5:8)  Jesus didn't just pray in crisis times.  He made a habit of talking to His Father no matter what was happening.  Do you make a habit of praying when times are easy and good as well as when you are in a crisis?  Scripture tells us that we should pray without stopping.  (1 Thessalonians 5:17)  Do you want to honor God and fill those gold bowls with incense that is pleasing to Him?  Then, let's just get so close to Him that we are running every thought by Him, praying about every situation that we come upon in life.  While it's true that we should be doing this as an act of loving obedience, there's so much more to prayer.  Do you know someone that needs healing?  Maybe you need to be healed of something.  It could be emotional, spiritual, mental, or physical.  If there is a situation in your life that you just can't seem to overcome, find yourself a believing, spirit-filled prayer partner.  Confess that situation and let that one pray for you.  Or, you may be that partner for another believer who is in need of prayer.  That prayer will, not only be pleasing to God, it will be filled with power and it will bring results!  (James 5:16)  It's interesting to note that when Job prayed for his friends, God restored his fortunes.  In fact, God gave Job twice as much as he had before.  (Job 42:10) Now, these weren't what you call the best of friends in Job's time of trouble.  He prayed for them anyway.  Just look how God responds when we pray for our friends!

Jesus also prayed in the time of crisis.  His prayer from the garden of Gethsemane was fervent and heart-wrenching.  (Matthew 26:36)  At that time, He already knew and was ready to fulfill the purpose for which God sent Him to earth. He had to go it alone.  His friends could not even stay awake to pray with Him.   (Matthew 26:40) Now we can see how important His lifestyle of prayer to His Father was.  He didn't have to learn how to pray when He got to this point.  He was already familiar enough with His Father from earlier prayer times.  He was familiar with the path He had to take because He had been in constant touch with His Father.  It was so hard.  We can't even imagine the pain as He prayed.  We can only read the results it had on His body.  He sweat drops of blood.  (Luke 22:44)  He was so in tune with His Father that His prayer was, "Not My will but Yours be done."  (Luke 22:42)  He did all that without even the solace and encouragement he would have liked from His disciples.  Is that where we are this morning?  Are our prayers in tune with the Lord's will?  Have we read and studied His Word, receiving revelation from the Holy Spirit?  Have we communed with the Lord so that we are aware of His will for us.  We can know His will for our lives if we come away from the world and stay in communication with the Father.  (Romans 12:2)  Is there a crisis in your life this morning?  Pray.  Are things going well for you this morning?  Pray.  Are there people around you in difficult situations?  Pray.  No matter what is going on in and around you, pray!  Your prayers are precious to God.  They continually rise before Him as sweet incense.  Doesn't that just encourage you and make you want to pray on!  Let's do it! 

There is a worship chorus entitled, "Come, Now Is The Time To Worship."  Some of the words go like this:  "One day every tongue will confess you are Lord, one day every knee will bow.  Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose you now."  We see in Revelation 4:11 that the twenty-four elders fell before the Lord in worship, casting their crowns at His feet.  This is such a picture of complete surrender and a perfect picture of worship.  The Lord is worthy of such worship.  He created all things for Himself, including you and me.  He has brought us this far.  We are not yet before Him face to face but we can choose to worship Him just as we see the elders doing.  We can do it right now.  One day every knee will have to bow before the Lord.  They will have to - be forced to.  (Romans 4:11)  Why not give Him the worship He's worthy of by choice, right now?

There are so many passages in the Bible that speak of the Lord's worthiness.  I was just reading about the word, "worship,'' last night.  It comes from an old English word, "weorthscipe," meaning "worthship," or "worthiness."  Right now, today, we have the privilege and opportunity to declare the worthiness of God.  What do we really think of the Lord?  It will show up in the expression of our worship of Him.  He's worth everything.  Nothing can compare to His worth.  (Isaiah 40:18-25)  Do we let Him know by our expressions of worship and by our lifestyle of worship.  If we were to walk into Heaven today, would it be a natural thing for us to worship Him, casting everything at His feet.  Probably not, if we're not doing that very same thing right now in this life.  As the song says, will we gladly choose to worship Him now?  Come, now is the time to worship!

Psalm 15 gives us a picture of just who may worship the Lord in His presence.  It is quite a list of things which will automatically be present in us if we have received Jesus and have a lifestyle of worship.  Is your heart sincere this morning?  Do you live a blameless life doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord, trusting in the blood of Jesus to cleanse you from all unrighteousness?  David, the writer of Psalm 15 laid it all out for us.  It would be impossible to do all of those things perfectly in and of ourselves.  We just have to become more and more like Jesus.  (Romans 8:29)  As that happens, worship will become our way of living.  Holiness will be evident.  Giving honor to the Lord will become second nature.  Worshiping the Lord in the splendor of His holiness will be the cry of our heart.  (Psalm 29:2)  It's true that all nations, all people, will worship Him one day.  Jesus will have been revealed fully in all of His power and glory.  We don't have to wait for a coming day, nor should we.  We have already seen Jesus through His Word.  We commune with Him every day through His Spirit.  We are, of all people, most blessed.  Come, now is the time to worship!   

Jesus is coming and quickly.  Whether He comes to call us Home individually or whether He comes to take us all out of this world at once, it will be quickly.  Have you noticed how quickly time flies?  We are young and then it seems that, in a flash, we are seniors.  If you're not there yet, you'll find out quickly!  Sometimes we kind of fritter our time away forgetting that every moment counts.  We can always make more money if we lose money but when we've lost even a moment in time, that moment can never be regained.  Jesus will come again.  God wants us to be ready.  One of the ways we can do this is by making the most of the time God has given us, constantly growing in wisdom.  How is your time spent?  (Psalm 90:12)  When you do see Jesus, will you be ashamed of all the time you have wasted on things that don't really matter?  When I think of it that way, I realize that I have missed the mark in that area many times.  Repentance is in order.  Maybe it is for you too.

The Church in Laodicea was severely rebuked because they became lukewarm.  (Revelation 3:15)  Jesus is not pleased when we don't hold on to what we have gained from Him.  His Word is living. (Hebrews 4:12)  It keeps speaking so, if we're holding on to what we have, it is continually speaking.  If we're not continually holding on and listening, we're not moving forward and growing. We're actually moving backward and dying.  Life doesn't stand still and we can't stand still either.  We will end up being complaisant if we do.  Lukewarm.  We will not be pleasing to Jesus at all.  (Revelation 3:16.  In fact, he says, "I will spit you out of my mouth."  Spitting is a nice way to put it.  The original word actually means, "vomit."  Is that the way we want our Lord to feel about us?  I don't think so!  Lukewarm people still do things.  They may even work in the church.  They just don't really care one way or another about what they're doing and, really, about Who they are doing it for. The opposite of love, with which we are supposed to do all things, is not really hate.  If someone tells you they hate you, you can always do or say something to try to change their mind.  But, if they say, "I don't care," there's not much you can do about that.  It's pretty much a dead-end road.  Dead-end roads do not lead to Heaven!

Crowns are promised many times in the scriptures.  They are promised to us if we do certain things.  A crown is a reward.  God has planned a reward for us and He wants us to be sure no one takes it away!  Jesus wore a crown while on earth.  It was a crown made of long sharp thorns.  (John 19:2)  It was a symbol of Him taking the reward we deserve so we could gain a reward that we don't deserve.  It was one of the places from which He shed His blood for us.  As those crowns pierced the head of Jesus and the blood dripped down His brow, He was purchasing the crowns that are promised to us when we serve Him as Lord and Savior of our lives. Paul speaks of a prize he is going to receive from the Lord.  It is crown of righteousness.  (2 Timothy 4:8) Isn't that just like the Lord to take the crown we deserved and give us a crown of righteousness?  You see, Paul goes on to say that he's not going to be the only one that gets one of those crowns.  He says all who eagerly look forward to the return of Jesus will get one. Being eager is certainly not being lukewarm!  Another promised crown is the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him and endure testing.  (James 1:12, Revelation 2:10)  Are you going through a time of testing right now?  Hold on to what you have.  The crown of life is waiting for you.  Hold on to Jesus.  If you do, He's going to crown you with salvation.  (Psalm 149:4)  There's no finer and more valuable crown than that!  There's no greater reason either to just hold on to what you have!  

I'm so overwhelmed at the power and love of God this morning.  I hope you are too.  If you're not in that place yet, you can receive encouragement right now.  It's the revelation of Jesus and all that He is that will give you renewed hope and encouragement to go on from here.  Yes, it's true that Jesus gives us several check lists in the messages He sends through John to the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation. But, right to the end, His messages are not to condemn. (John 3:17) We see the heart of Jesus so plainly. He will convict us and warn us which may be uncomfortable but His ultimate aim is to save us.  It's to help us see those negative things in our hearts that will keep us from a perfect relationship with Him.  No matter how low we fall, Jesus is still interested in saving us.  The church of Thyatira had a woman in it that was "self-proclaimed" prophetess.  She had the spirit of Jezebel.  She was teaching the church that sexual sin was not a serious matter.  How bad is that?  What an attitude!  How is your attitude this morning?  Not just about sexual sin but about anything that goes against the will of God?  This evil woman who was trying to teach God's people to disobey and disregard His will was given another chance.  A chance to change her attitude.  (Revelation 2:21)  Don't you know that we can be encouraged this morning?  We may have had a bad attitude last night or even just before we started to read this.  Yet, now is the time God is showing us that it is not too late to change our attitude.  Right this minute you and I can get real before God and let Him know we're willing to change our attitude.  We don't have to be like the evil woman in Revelation who refused.  We can accept God's offer.  Is there an attitude within you that needs changing right now?  Then submit yourself to God, ask for His help, renounce that attitude and give it up.  Trust God to fill your heart with the mind of Christ and with a Godly attitude in whatever area you are convicted in right now!

Yes, God does search deep within our hearts and minds.  In His justice He must give us what we deserve.  (Revelation 2:23)  Yet, because He is not only a God of justice but also a God of love, He has continually, throughout the Book of Revelation, given us encouragement.  To every one of the churches, He has also told us ways in which we can turn from those things He is displeased with.  He gives us constant reminders of the rewards that will come to those who are willing to obey Him.  He encourages us by letting us know that He, indeed, sees not only the faults in us, but the good things we do.  We are encouraged to keep on doing good.  We can't rest on yesterday's good deeds and victories.  The time is short and we need to keep on doing well.  (Galatians 6:9)  Jesus saw the good deeds that those in Thyatira had done and He encouraged them and commended them.  He saw their improvement and let them know it.  You know, He sees all of that in you and me too.  When we improve, He takes note of it.  (Revelation 2:19)  We can be encouraged this morning.  We can go on with hope that Jesus places in our hearts by letting us know that He sees the good that we think and do.  He just doesn't want us to get a big head by that.  He wants us to keep going in the right direction and not to get caught up in the sin around us.  It's the overcomers who will receive the rewards.  (Revelation 2:26)  So, this morning, get in touch with Jesus.  Hear Him tell you the things that He is pleased with in you.  Just keep on keeping on in those things and don't stop.  You can overcome!

Do you want some more encouragement this morning?  Are you weak?  Yet, do you still cling to your faith in Jesus?  Listen to what He says to the church in Philadelphia.  Maybe He's speaking that to you this morning.  It is not a sin to be weak.  In fact, we are all weak.  Without Jesus, we're as good as a dust ball. (Psalm 103:14)  Without Jesus, we can't do a blessed thing!  (John 15:5)  All we can really do is be clingers.  We cling to the Vine, who is Jesus.  He, in turn, strengthens us.  (Philippians 4:13)  If our strength stopped coming from the Vine, we would soon wither and fall off the vine without becoming ripe and fulfilling our destiny.  Yes, we couldn't even cling without Jesus!  Yet, Jesus keeps pouring Himself into us so that we can grow to maturity. You may feel weak this morning.  But God sees you as having the strength of His Son abiding in you.  It is Jesus that is keeping you, despite your weakness.  He sees that you have tried to obey and that you have not denied His Name.  (Revelation 3:8)  Because of that He told the church at Philadelphia that He has opened a door for them that no man can shut.  Have you had doors shut in your face?  Have your expectations been dashed by the enemy or by your own unwillingness to receive the strength that Jesus offers you?  It's not too late.  Keep on keeping on trying to obey.  Don't deny His Name.  There will be an open door for you!  You won't have to struggle to open it.  It will fling open at the power of Jesus's Word.  When it does, no one will be able to shut it.  You'll be walking in a new place prepared just for you and in the power of the living God.  He is faithful to do what He says!  If you are more encouraged now than when you began reading this, just know that it is because of the revelation of who Jesus is!  He is merciful and loving, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)  He wants to give you abundant life. A full life.  (John 10:10)  Revelation brings encouragement!  Be encouraged!

The other thing that Jesus  does for all the churches is give them a word about overcomers.  Are you an overcomer?  Through Jesus, we can all be overcomers if we're willing to listen, understand, and obey.  Overcomers will eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7) Overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.  (Revelation 2:11)  Overcomers will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven.  Each one will be given a white stone from Jesus with a brand new name on it. (Revelation 2:17) Overcomers who obey to the very end will be given authority over all the nations.  Jesus will give them the same authority he received from His Father.  In addition, they will be given the morning star.  (Revelation 2:26-27)  That's only the overcomers word from four of the seven churches!  There are still three churches which you can check out in Revelation, Chapter 3.  What a blessing to know that God is indeed who He says He is.  He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  (Hebrews 11:6)  He always has been and He will never change.  (Hebrews 13:8)  He will give great rewards to those who have read, listened to, and obeyed the final chapter of the book of His-Story.  (2 John 1:8)  If we miss the book of The Revelation, we are missing much of the "B.I.B.L.E."  The "basic instructions before leaving earth."  We never want to travel without taking the basics, like underwear, deodorant, toothbrush, etc. If we do forget those things, we will most probably be embarrassed during our travels.  In the same way, we will be more than embarrassed if we take our flight from earth, reaching Heaven and facing the King of Kings without the basics.  We will be totally without excuse because that same King has given us all the things we need.  We just have to make sure they're packed in our heart and that we use them every day along our journey.  Yes, Jesus cares about your church.  He cares about you.  Though we have all failed in some points, He is kind enough to point those out while nudging us forward in love with the promise of great reward.  He cares!  Do we care enough about  His care for us to want to know everything about Him?  To see Him totally revealed?  To read and obey The Revelation? 

We all know that God deserves all the glory.  It is only because of Him that we don't stumble and fall completely.  It is only because of God and the sacrifice that Jesus made for us that we can come into His presence.  (Hebrews 4:16)  We can come before our Father completely washed and free from sin. (1 Corinthians 6:11)  And, we can enter the presence of God with joy.  (Psalm 100:2)  We are no longer condemned.  (Romans 8:1)  We are set free. (John 8:36)  God has done many and great things for us.  But, as I re-read the little book of Jude, I realized that there are some things God wants us to do.

We need to build one another up in the faith.  (Jude 1:20)  Are you practicing that?  If a Christian brother or sister is struggling and perhaps is wavering in their faith, do we judge them and talk about them.  Or, do we encourage them?  Do we remember that God encouraged us, through the scripture to lift up hands that hung down and feeble knees?  (Hebrews 12:12)  If God encouraged us in that way, should we not be doing it for our brothers and sisters?  We need to be open to the urging of the Holy Spirit to encourage one another.  (Hebrews 10:24)  Another thing that God leaves for us to do is to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.  (Jude 1:21)  It's so easy to get caught up in the everyday affairs of life that we may forget to pray in the power of the Spirit. But, that's where the power is!  When life seems to drain all of your energy, get plugged back into the power source. Better yet, don't get unplugged! Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. Everything turns around when we do that.  In God's time, of course.  As we pray in the power of the Spirit, we then are told to await the mercy of Jesus.  Are we waiting for the mercy of Jesus this morning, not just for eternal life , but for everything concerning this life on earth?  If so, we can be sure we are keeping ourselves safe in God's love.

That's quite a few things to do right there.  I was wondering why it seems so hard sometimes and why we have to keep on doing all of those things (there's even more that we'll get to in a minute).  Then God reminded me that, although He gave the promised land to the Israelites, they had to do certain things in order to receive it.  Those things were hard things.  They had to stay close to God and they had to fight when He said, "fight."  They had to rest when He said, "rest." It wasn't easy then and it isn't always easy now.  But, God is merciful.  (Malachi 3:6)  He's a rescuer. (Psalm 34:17)  He wants us to pass that mercy and help on to others.  If another's faith is wavering, we need to show mercy.  (Jude 1:22)   We also need to show mercy to those who are entangled in sin, all the while remembering that it is only by the grace of God that we have not become entangled too.  This sort of mercy requires that we hate the sin but love the person and it has to be given with great caution so that we don't find ourselves being pulled into that same sin.  (Jude 1:23)  There are some that we will need to rescue, as though we were pulling them from the very fire of Hell.  Wow!  Jude lists quite a few things to keep us busy while we're waiting for eternity.  And he does it in only one small book, containing only one chapter!  Looks like you and I had best be getting busy! While we're waiting for Jesus to return, we have a few things to do.

Have you had times or seasons when you spent quality time with the Lord?  Have you enjoyed times of reading His Word?  Have you spent some time studying it?  That's wonderful.  (2 Timothy 2:15)   2 Timothy 2:15 (King James Version) ^{15 (KJV)} Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  If so, you know the peace and joy those things bring.  Toward year-end though, other things seem to call for our time.  There are many distractions with the Christmas season and preparations for a new year.  Why would we want to exchange the real reason we have for celebrating Christmas and the fact that God has brought us through another year by drifting farther from Christ?  Yet, that's how we are sometimes, even bordering on worshipping the gifts more than the giver.  If you have begun to slack off in your time spent with the Lord and in His Word, maybe a reminder from 2 John 1:8 would be helpful this morning.  It is a very timely urging to remain faithful and resist distraction.

John let's us know that we should watch out.  Why?  Because many deceivers are in the world teaching things that are not of Christ (1 John 1:7)  John doesn't want us to be trapped by false teaching and lose what we've worked so hard to achieve. Any time we have spent in God's Word is valuable.  Because it is valuable, the enemy would like to steal it from us.  (John 10:10)  And, of course, see that we have no time to continue in it.  He starts trying to do that by distracting us to keep us from continuing to spend consistent time with God and in His Word.  Pretty soon, if we yield to those distractions, we are open and vulnerable to believing lies and losing what we've gained through the Word.  John also points out that we need to be diligent so that we will gain our full reward.  We know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  (Hebrews 11:6)  Seeking Him requires that we believe that He is.  That requires faith.  Faith comes by hearing.  Hearing comes by the Word of God.  Romans 10:17 (King James Version) ^{17 (KJV)} So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. If we are to diligently seek Him, doesn't that bring to your mind the idea of constant pursuit of God, fully believing that you will find Him and receive a full reward from Him?  If you have never spent time with Him and in His Word, get started now!  You will be amazed at the rewards that will quickly show up in your life.  You will have the peace and joy of God, among many other things.  Are you missing something in life?  This is most probably what you are missing.  Allow yourself to open up the greatest gift you could ever receive this Christmas, The Word of God which was made flesh for you.  (John 1:14) Jesus is the Word.  If you have been in His Word but are becoming a little bit lethargic or distracted this year-end, be encouraged!  Refuel, and get back on the track.  Finish strong in 2007!

Wandering can occur when we become distracted.  That puts us in dangerous territory.  1 John 1:9 says some pretty heavy things about that.  If anybody wanders from the  good news of Jesus, that person has no relationship with the Father!  It's vitally important to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father.  That's why He sent Jesus.  To reconcile us to Himself.  (1 Timothy 2:5)  What a gift!  And how many fail to receive it joyfully and open it, using it daily?  A great upside to 1 John 1:9 is this:  Anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son. So, if you find yourself distracted with other things, watch out!  Be careful to get back to being with the Lord in His Word.  You can't tell the counterfeit unless you're fully acquainted with the real thing.  Be diligent in seeking the Father.  Don't get caught wandering.  You'll be confused and open to believing lies.  Remain alert.  (1 Peter 5:8)  Remain in Christ.  Watch out for the enemy!  Don't let him steal what is rightfully yours.  Then you'll be sure to receive your full reward!!

Have you had troubles in your life? Who hasn't?  Maybe today holds something for you that is challenging.  It's always good to have someone come along who can help when things become too much for us to handle.  Yesterday, I received that kind of help when my friend was kind enough to drive me to a medical procedure from which I could not drive home because of sedation.  It's wonderful to have people on your side who will be there to help when you really need it.  What if we didn't have people like that?  There's something even more wonderful.  God is on our side if we are trusting Him.  What if He were not on our side?  That's a chilling thought.  The Psalmist begins to take note of that in Psalm 124:1.  He then asks Israel to repeat it in Psalm 124:2.  When something is repeated in scripture such as, "If the Lord had not been on our side.....," we can be pretty sure that God would like us to stop and think about it.

Israel had been attacked, but God was on their side.  We, too, will be attacked.  Our enemies will not be people, but principalities and powers in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)  They are wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. They may work through people, but the people are not our real enemy.   Because of Jesus, we have the power to fight off the attack.  We have been given all the armor necessary.  (Ephesians 6:10-17)  And, God is on our side!  If God is for us, who can be against us?  (Romans 8:31)  Things may come into our lives that are overwhelming but God will not allow us to go through any more than we can handle.  (1 Corinthians 10:13)  If He knows the trial is too great, He will make a way of escape.  The thing is, we have to trust that fact enough to believe it.  Yes, sometimes it will feel as though we can't handle things but here's the truth.  If God doesn't take us out of it, He wants us to trust that He is taking us through it.  If you are going through something difficult this morning, make sure your armor is in place and trust that the battle is the Lord's.  (1 Samuel 17:47)  Yes, you will have to fight the good fight of faith.  (1 Timothy 6:12)  We're in the Lord's army but it is by His power, and not our own, we're coming through!  In His time, you're coming out and you are already declared the victor!  The Psalmist says the following about Israel's enemies.  "They would have swallowed us alive..."  "...a torrent would have overwhelmed us."  "...their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives."  (Psalm 124:3-5)  Have you had times in your life in which those phrases might have been a reflection of what you were thinking?

Yes, we have an enemy who would like to overwhelm us and swallow us up.  (1 Peter 5:8)  He would have won except that we also have a mighty God who is also our loving Heavenly Father.  We have a Redeemer who is Jesus.  Israel got a good show of the enemy-defeating power we now have over our adversary, the devil.  Psalm 124:6 finds the Psalmist praising the Lord.  That should be our first thought every morning when we wake, every night before we go to sleep, and all day long.  God has spared us from the enemy's teeth.  We are not torn apart.  We're still standing!  Praise the Lord!  We have escaped the enemy like a bird from the hunter's trap.  (Psalm 124:7)  In fact, God has broken the trap!  Sin cannot hold us any longer. (Romans 6:4)  We are set free!  Our help has been, is, and always will be from the Lord.  (Psalm 124:8)   He made it manifest when Jesus came to earth.  Jesus then gave us His own Spirit as a guarantee that we are free for eternity.  (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)  Now and forever, nothing can separate us from God's love. (Romans 8:38)  Like Israel, we might ask ourselves, "What if the Lord had not been on our side?"  When we do, we will probably realize that our problems are small in comparison to His love and power.  Doesn't that make you just want to break out in praise?  Go for it!  

Do you know who Jesus is?  Most of us reading this will say, "Duh!"  "Of course I know who Jesus is!"  But I had to do a little self-check when I re-read 1 John 3:6.  It says that if we keep on sinning, we don't know Him and we never did really understand who He is.  That's pretty heavy.  Again, most of us reading this will probably be of the mind set that we don't sin regularly.  And, we probably don't - outwardly.  But the trouble with that is that God is not just looking at outward actions, as important as they are.  He is looking at our heart.  (Proverbs 4:23)  We have to guard that carefully.  It affects everything we eventually do.  We need to double check it constantly.  First, we need to let God examine it. (Psalm 26:2)  Psalms 26:2 (Amplified Bible) ^{2 (AMP)} Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; test my heart and my mind.  We also must examine our own hearts. Before the early church came together to celebrate communion, they were told to examine their own hearts.  Since this was a frequent occurrence, the self-examination must have occurred quite often.  (1 Corinthians 11:27)  They had to examine themselves so they would not be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of Jesus when they ate the bread and drank from the cup.  (1 Corinthians 11:28)  If they took the communion cup unworthily, or with sin in their heart, they would be opposing the One who came as the fulfillment and completion of the law of God.  (Matthew 5:17)  As 1 John 3:4 says, "Those who sin are opposed to the law of God."  Then, John goes on to make it perfectly clear that all sin opposes the law of God.  Are there things within your heart this morning that need a little examination?  Maybe a little surgery?  You don't need to answer out loud.  I'm busy checking my own heart!

In our natural state, we were all opposed to God.  Thank God, He saw that and sent the remedy, Jesus Christ.  Jesus never did oppose His Father by sinning.  (1 John 3:5)  Now, we might ask that same question of ourselves again, "Do I know who Jesus is?"  Really?  Maybe you know who your postal delivery person is.  You can recognize them when they drive around in their little delivery truck. But, would you recognize them in the market or in some other context?   Maybe you know their name, but maybe not.  Do you know who they are, really?  Probably not in most cases.  Why don't you know who they really are?  In most cases, it's probably because you have not spent much time with them.  You don't know their background.  You don't know their family members.  You don't know where they live.  You don't know why they chose to deliver mail as a career.  You don't know their values.  You know who they are, but not really.  You see what they do, but you would not be able to do what they do because you haven't spent time with them in training.  You don't know the route.  You don't know the mail sorting process.  You don't know all of the postal regulations.  When we sin, we oppose God's law, His regulations.  Yet sometimes, we do it in ignorance because we haven't spent enough time in the Word to really know who Jesus is or really know God's law.  However, that is no excuse.  Ignorance doesn't change principles.  It used to be said that "ignorance of the law is no excuse".  The principles and the law remain the same whether we choose to learn about them or not.  Ignorance doesn't change who Jesus is.  He remains the same whether we choose to get to really know Him or not. (Hebrews 13:8)

So, do we really know who Jesus is so that we will not be found opposing God's law?  Have we chosen to invite Him into every area of our life and let Him train us to be without sin, just as He was?  It is good and needful to confess that He is Lord with our mouth and believe in our heart. (Romans 10:9)   But, after that, our lives must prove that we really meant it.  If we truly do believe, we will spend lots and lots of time with Him, eventually walking right in step with Him.  Missing the mark less and less.  Always falling at His feet in repentance immediately when we find that we have sinned in some way.  (1 John 2:1)  Where are we in that process this morning?  Hopefully, we're not in denial of any sin that still lurks deep within us.  There may be things that are deep rooted.  We may have tried in our own strength to get rid of them in the past and failed.  Then maybe we "stuffed" it, thinking it would just remain hidden down there in a dark corner.  Nothing remains hidden when the light of Christ comes in.  When we really know Jesus, we will not be opposed to the truth. We will be open to constructive criticism and loving rebuke in order to become more like Him.  (Proverbs 19:1)  Let's not be found opposing God's ways just because we refuse to accept that we need help in some areas.  Being stubborn and unwilling to change only leads to sudden brokenness which may be beyond repair.  Instead, let's be aware that we can do nothing without Him. (John 15:5)  The battle does not belong to us, although we must enlist as a soldier. (1 Samuel 17:47, 1 Timothy 2:3, 1 John 5:4-5) Yes, being a soldier requires discipline.  (2 Timothy 2:4)  But, you can't lose.  Luke 21:19 (The Living Bible) ^{19 (TLB)} For if you stand firm, you will win your souls. Our Commander has already won the victory!  (Revelation 19:6)  This morning, let's get closer to God, through Jesus, rather than taking a chance on opposing His laws.  Let's make sure we really know who Jesus is by spending time with Him.  Talking to Him.  Listening.  Reading His Word.  Thanking Him that we have the opportunity to really know Him and really know our Father, because of Him.  (John 14:9)  Time spent with Him is time spent without sin! 

Have you ever had a day when you needed help?  I mean you really needed help!  Did you like the Psalmist wonder where you help was going to come from?  Don't we sometimes just automatically look upwards when we don't know what to do or where to find help?  Sometimes we just throw our hands up in the air.  Really, that's a good posture.  Surrender.  But, we need to be sure where we place our trust and to whom we surrender.  The Psalmist said, he looked to the mountains.  Then he must have realized he needed to look higher than the mountains to the One who made the mountains.  Let's look at Psalm 121:1-8 and see what he found when he lifted his eyes higher than the mountains right on up to the Lord.

 ^{1 (NLT)} I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there?  Have you ever looked for help everywhere else but in God?  Maybe like the Psalmist, you had to ask, "Does my help come from there?"  "Or there?"  "Or there?", depending on where you were looking.  Finally, we realize that help can come from nowhere else but the Lord.  ² My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth!  He's the One who made those mountains and everything else to which we might look for help.  He's our Source in the time of need. When we are in trouble or any kind of need, just look what He has promised, if we will just lift our eyes higher than the problem, higher than any earthly help, and trust Him!

³ He will not let you stumble and fall; the one who watches over you will not sleep. He stays awake twenty-four, seven and watches over us if we will look to Him.  He guards our steps and keeps us from utterly falling and failing.  He never gets tired of doing that for us and never falls asleep on the job. He's had to work through a lot of nights for me.  How about you?   ⁴ Indeed, he who watches over Israel never tires and never sleeps.  Many rich and famous people have personal body guards.  Sometimes we envy people like that.  But, do we realize that we have Someone even better than a human personal body guard?  We have the Lord, Himself, to watch over us!  He is always standing beside us, never leaving our side.  He is our protective shade.  When the heat of life threatens to burn us up, He, God Almighty, is our protective shade!  ⁵ The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. Nothing that comes at us by day or night can hurt us.  ⁶ The sun will not hurt you by day, nor the moon at night. Sometimes in our bent toward sin, we are our own worst enemy.  We fail to keep our eyes on God and begin to turn toward evil.  The Lord has promised to keep us from all evil, including that which might try to rise up in us from our own fleshly desires. ⁷ The LORD keeps you from all evil and preserves your life. It is only because of God that we are not destroyed.  He is the one who has preserved your life and my life to this point and His promise is to continue to do it because we are looking to Him for our help.  Yes, His promise is that He will watch over you wherever you are.  When?  Now!  How long?  Forever!  ⁸ The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. Where does your help come from?  It comes from the Lord!