Behold What Manner of Love is This?
…That We Should Be Called His Children?
If you search for true love, you find Jesus! No greater love!
How to be saved:
How do you become a child of God?
By rejecting the sinful nature and by faith trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin and accepting His righteousness!
After becoming a child of God, the next step is growing in the relationship you have with Jesus!
1 John 3:1-3
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
We become God’s children by faith. You become children by believing in the name of Jesus!
Transformation Starts:
After you become a child of God, things start happening!
You become alive! You have awakened! Processes start up and start working!
When you cry out and ask God to change you and fix you! You know what that is?
That’s God’s work in you, it’s working, you are changing. You are in the process of transformation!
Yes we are all sick and messed up, but isn’t it nice to know that we are recovering?
I don’t mean it like we are recovering Christians, but yeah, we are Christians and we are recovering! You are getting better! You are being transformed day by day and HE is faithful to complete it until that day!
1 Peter 4:1-4 Are you done with sin?
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
Rolling Ball Sculptures!
In my younger days I made Rolling Ball Sculptures and sold them on eBay!
For the most part it was just extra money but I’ve sold thousands of dollars worth of them!
At one point I was between jobs and wondered how we’d make it and somehow God dropped a $5000 job in my lap! At first I thought it was just a prank and told them to pay half and I’d start on it and then the next day $2500 was in my PayPal account! Wow! So I made the order and there was the other $2500. It was a museum in South Korea and to this day still has some of my sculptures displayed there (as far as I know)! Neato!
An RBS is a potential energy device! What does that mean? It doesn’t do anything until you release a marble on top. At that point it becomes kinetic energy! The marble will then roll down the track and do whatever tricks until it reaches the bottom!
You’re Different!:
Sinful people find it odd that you don’t join in with their debauchery anymore!
Hey, you want to go out drinking and carousing with us? No? You’re different!
Something’s different! You’ve changed!
Story of the butterfly or the frog?
From a seed to a flower. You don’t stare at it but you don’t see it.
Timelapse photography is great to see that wonderful transformation!
Let the Lord do His work!
If someone hasn’t seen you in a while, they may notice, hey something is different about you!
2 Cor 3:17-18 … being transformed!
16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Peculiar People:
You’re an ever changing rearranging lifeform! You are a peculiar person!
What does that mean? It means you’re weird!!! They say everyone is weird but only some hide it better?
But no, it’s that we are peculiar or rare! You are a precious jewel among worthless rocks.
And that’s sad, wouldn’t it be great if salvation and righteous transformation wasn’t rare!
God wishes that none should perish and that all should come to repentance.
But the reality is that salvation IS rare and godly people are on the infrequent side.
The World is Sick!:
The world is lost and dying and not getting better, it’s getting worse! It’s very sick and It’s going down the toilet! Many of them think it is fine! If a doctor told you that you were losing an arm due to gangrene, would you tell him, leave it, it’s fine! That’s how the world is, they don’t even realize they are sick and dying! They don’t understand why you don’t do the things they do!
Hopefully you’re not one of those going down with them!
To live a life of sin is totally contradictory to the character of Jesus!
In Him there is no sin!
No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning? Why is that?
Conviction. When we sin, we are convicted.
1 John 2:1 Jesus our Advocate!
2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
So yeah we splat against the wall, and we are seriously convicted and apologize to God,
A War is Raging Inside!
Jesus our advocate intercedes for us! And God forgives us and we pick ourselves back up, and hopefully we learn from it and grow and stop doing the things in our old life.
Lost people don’t have this same conviction. Or maybe they do and they ignore it?
Our sinful fleshly nature is at constant war with our redeemed spiritual nature!
The fact that there is a battle going on inside you shows that you are a believer.
If there wasn’t a battle, you’d succumb to the sin and sin leads to death.
To hate sin and love righteousness.
Lost people love sin and hate righteousness! Just the opposite of how we should be!
Sin is never OK. If you’re in sin, stop it, get help! Repent and turn to Jesus! Rom 7
Purify yourselves as He is pure as the verse said.
Transfiguration of Us too!
What we will be has not been revealed!! (there’s so much more!)
We shall be like Him for we will be like He is!
The Bible said anyone who is saved purifies himself!
The game plan is for Jesus to make us like Him!
Even now we are being changed. Romans 8:29-30
Romans 8:28,30 conformed to the image of his Son!
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
[ Recall Jesus’ transfiguration ]
1 John 3:2 we shall be like Him!
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
No longer sinful but pure and holy!
Philippians 1:6 faithful to complete it in us
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
The process has already started! He’s changing you and won’t stop! He won’t let you go!
It’s called Sanctification.
Our citizenship is in heaven. Hebrews 13:14! And He is preparing us for it!
1 Corinthians 13:12 then face to face
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known.
Think about it! To have an incorruptible body, doesn’t get sick or die?
Changed in the twinkling of an eye.
1 Corinthians 15:50-54 - in the twinkling of an eye
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
Houston Preacher (or was it Colorado)
There was a guy who lived on the streets in Houston. He was heavily into drugs and homeless and was almost at the end of his life. He decided to go to a church one day and met the preacher. The preacher worked with the man and finally the man turned to Christ and became a child of God! He would go to church every day and grew and learned more and more about Christ. One day, he gave his life to the ministry! He took a job at a small church in Houston and it grew and grew until one day it became a mega church and even had missions and satellite churches!
A parable in the Bible says that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that when it grows can grow so large that even the birds in the air can perch on its branches! This preacher was much like that!
Growing in Christ!
If you want to grow in Christ, read your Bible!
It will teach you the law and convict you of sin!
If you don’t want to be convicted of sin (lost) don’t read the Bible! (I’m not advocating to not read the Bible - I’m just warning/encouraging you that you will be convicted if you read the Bible so be prepared!)
Bring it on, right!?!?! Don’t you want to grow? If you don’t want to grow, don't read the Bible!
(not advocating to not read the Bible - just warning/encouraging that you will grow if you read the Bible!)
Joke:
A woman who lived next door to a preacher was puzzled by his personality change. At home he was shy, quiet and retiring, but in the church he was a real fire orator, rousing the masses in the name of God. It was as if he were two different people.
One day she asked him about the dramatic transformation that came over him when he preached.
“Ah,” he said, “That’s my altar ego!”
Don’t just have an altar ego, faking the Christian life, be genuine, not just superficial Christian that has no root and withers because it’s not a real conversion!
Accept Jesus way down deep in your heart! Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth!
When these changes become genuine in your life, then the changes in your life become genuine!
You need a personal relationship with Jesus.
A relationship that grows by reading the Bible.
A relationship that grows by being convicted of sin and repents!
A relationship that wants to please God by living a godly life!
A relationship that wants to have relationships with other believers.
A relationship that wants to share His love with others!
A relationship that wants to be with Jesus forever in Heaven!
We need each other and we need to share love! Sword sharpens sword.
Children of the Devil
We know every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above!
Ever wonder why there’s so many bad things happening currently? It’s not from Him!
Currently, the devil is ruler of this world (temporarily) John 16:11
Looking for love in all the wrong places!
When you look around you, do you realize that we are not all God’s children?
There are only two kinds? A child of God or a child of the devil!
A wheat or a tare! Matthew 13:24-30
A sheep or a goat! Matthew 25:31-46
My sheep hear my voice… John 10:27-28
The tares will be bundled up and thrown into the fire.
The sheep and goats will be divided and the sheep to eternal life and the goats eternal punishment.
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
The Bible is full of warnings! So many ignore those warnings to their peril.
I hope you have your eyes wide open to God’s Word and understand the dichotomy of being a child of God or not being a child of God.
If you don’t know how to be saved, you are not a child of God.
You can even know how to be saved and not be saved. Demons believe and tremble!
Your knowledge has to be converted to real faith and accept it in your heart!
John 1:12-13
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
You have to actually trust in Jesus for forgiveness of sins and your salvation!
When you do, you will become a child of God and will instantly pass from death unto life!
I’m going to tell you that the devil doesn’t want you to do that and will try to keep you from doing that, but you know it’s the right thing to do!
Revelation 3:17-21 I stand at the door and knock!
17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Jesus is here with His arms open wide, tears on His face, wishing for you to repent and trust in Him before it’s too late.
He wishes none should perish but all should come to repentance.
Many of you are waiting to be adopted! You could be adopted today! It’s up to you to put your faith in Jesus, no one can do it for you! Being a child of God? How great would that be?
Turn your eyes upon Jesus!
