Our Advocate

 

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

—1 John 2:1

Raised as an only, adopted child, I have always been a misfit. As I have related numerous times on this blog, I have an innate social awkwardness that makes other people quite uncomfortable. Some people accuse me of being angry all the time. Others speak behind my back telling others that I think I’m a “know it all.” Still others insist that I want to always take over and run the organizations to which I belong.

Over the years, many people react negatively toward me because I am morbidly obese. Others speak ill of me because they feel I talk too much. Still others don’t like the fact that I am not inclined to enjoy sports. Many think that I give too long an explanation, or that the stories I tell are boring.

This recitation of the negative feelings people have about me is not a “pity party.” Rather, I am using these facts as an illustration of what it means to feel that I don’t belong, that I am standing alone against the world, that I am a misfit, and that I have no one to stand up for me.

In the period of time from fifth grade through my graduation from high school, I was bullied—a lot! I developed various strategies to try to minimize the impact that bullying had on me. I was never really very successful at developing the kind of “I don’t care” attitude that would have insulated me from the effects of the bullying. I always wished I had someone—anyone—who would stand up for me, take my side, or otherwise advocate on my behalf.

With this background, you can understand why the verse of Scripture at the beginning of this blog post has come to mean so very much to me. The Apostle John—known in church history as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”—writes to the Christians in Jerusalem and Asia Minor a great truth. John shares something that has importance beyond measure.

John asserts that the reason he has chosen to write his first letter to them is so that he can encourage them to set sin aside in their lives. In so doing, John reminds these baby “Christ’s-ones” that if they do sin, they are not facing a holy God alone. No! They have an advocate who stands with them, acting on their behalf between them and God. And, this advocate is none other than God’s dearly loved only Son, Jesus.

Even as we begin another day, whether or not in our personal lives we have anyone here on earth to stand up for us, in heaven where it really matters, we have an advocate who stands before God in our behalf. Jesus takes our place, stands up for us, speaks on our behalf, and saves us from the rightful wrath of a holy God. Just as Jesus bore the penalty for our sins on the cruel cross of Calvary, so Jesus continues to advocate for us. Jesus is our brother. He is our friend. He is the one upon whom we can always depend.

Johnson Oatman (1856-1922) wrote a song toward the end of the 19th century that has appeared in over 350 hymnals. It’s a song that we seldom hear sung today. The words have a special meaning in light of the teaching the Apostle John shared with those early Christians. Here are the words: ¹

There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus—
No, not one! no, not one!
None else could heal all our soul's diseases—
No, not one! no, not one!

Refrain:
Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus—
No, not one! no, not one!

No friend like him is so high and holy—
No, not one! no, not one!
And yet no friend is so meek and lowly—
No, not one! no, not one!

Refrain:
Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus—
No, not one! no, not one!

There’s not an hour that he is not near us—
No, not one! no, not one!
No night so dark but His love can cheer us—
No, not one! no, not one!

Refrain:
Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus—
No, not one! no, not one!

Was e’er a gift like the Savior given?
No, not one! no, not one!
Will he refuse us a home in heaven?
No, not one! no, not one!

Refrain:
Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus—
No, not one! no, not one!

 

______________________

1 Oatman, Johnson. “No, Not One.” This is a gospel song in the Public Domain. This gospel song is also included in various Hymnals that themselves are copyrighted by the publisher of the Hymnal. Though this citation is noted to be in the Public Domain, in the case of someone claiming Copyright protection of this material, please note that in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Holding Tightly

 

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

—Hebrews 10:35-36

The other day, I noticed a billboard along the Interstate highway. It read:

“When the going gets tough, most people curl up into a ball and begin to cry!”

I did a double-take and looked at the sign again. Sure enough! That’s what the billboard declared. I could hardly believe what I had read. And, worst off from a marketing standpoint, I have no idea what product that billboard intended to sell.

Maybe at this time of extreme stress: riots and looting in the streets of our cities, increased crime, downward spiraling morals, harsh political divide, war, and a host of other problems, we’re all supposed to just curl up into a ball and sob our way through each day.

In contrast, in the Scipture verses at the beginning of this blog post, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews urges his readers to hold onto their confidence because such a holding tightly has great reward. He continues by pointing our that his readers have a need for endurance to keep on obediently doing exactly what God wants them to do, so that they will receive what God has promised.

It’s certainly true that in saving us from the penalty of our sins, through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has asked only one thing of us: He wants us to become obedient to His perfect will for our lives. To grasp onto God’s will, we must surrunder our own fatally flawed and selfish human will and turn our four human modalities—heart, soul, mind, and strength—over to His steadfast and immutable will.

As we begin another new day, we can rejoice in the fact that we have a definite pathway to follow along the road of life: obedience to God’s will for us. And, we have help along the way through the power of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit. That should give us the ability to hold fast to our confidence, knowing that our confidence rests in the God who loves us with His everlasting, unfailing, undying love.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

A Natural Progression

 

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…

—Romans 5:3-4

We Americans have become quite proficient at taking certain philosophical concepts and “secularizing” them for our own purposes. Here’s one example:

karma: In the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, karma is the belief that the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence will decide his or her fate in future existences.

Even though the word “karma” represents the belief of two particular religions, we Americans have secularized the philosophical concept represented by this word, so that we may use it to explain what we either observe, or hope to observe, about the behavior of the humans who inhabit the spaces around us. Said another way, we hope against hope that the phrase “what goes around, comes around” will prove true for us, but particularly for those who may do something to harm us.

We even apply this somewhat distorted concept to the “bad things” that may happen to us in our lives. When we suffer, we may believe that our suffering has come because of something we did that deserves punishment. Likewise, when we have great success, we often believe that we are only getting what we deserve because of the good we have done.

Scripture does not support this distorted view. In contrast, we have this example from the writings of the Apostle John, found in John 9:1-3:

“Who sinned that this man was born blind?” asked the Disciples.

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

In this life, suffering comes because of the sin nature passed down from Adam that affects every aspect of our life on earth. This includes the substance of the earth itself, as well as every aspect of human life. Much to the chagrin of many individuals who do not understand the impact of the sin curse, climate change—if, in fact, there really is climate change instead of a normal cycle of climate variance—comes as a result of the sin curse. Humans do not cause climate change. To ascribe to humans the ability to cause a change in something so profound as the climate would minimize the creative power of the God who made the climate. But, that’s likely a discussion best left for another day.

Suffering comes into our lives because we live in a sin-cursed world. When we experience suffering, it is not necessarily because of our actions—although our actions can make our suffering worse. A person who smokes two packs of cigarettes every day, from the time he or she is thirteen years old, may well succumb to lung cancer. But, there actually are other lifelong smokers, who do not die from this dreaded disease.

Suffering is a part of our sin-cursed lives on this sin-cursed earth. The real question is what we will do when suffering comes into our lives. The answer lies within the Scripture verses at the beginning of this blog post.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Christians gathered in the church at Rome. Paul insists that suffering starts a chain reaction for believers—a natural progression—that carries them into a place of rejoicing. Suffering produces endurance. Endurance produces character. Character produces hope. And, best of all, hope will not disappoint us. Why? Because hope draws us into the fullness of God’s loving embrace.

Can we rejoice when we face suffering in our lives? Yes, we can! And, we had better do so. After all, the very Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, sufferend on the cross of Calvary to bear the punishment for our sins. His suffering was the greatest suffering a human could ever endure. As a result, our sins have been forgiven, our relationship with God restored, and our life everlasting is just over the next hilltop.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Welcome One Another

 

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

—Romans 15:7

During the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 and 2021, many of us had to forego worshipping together in order to maintain social distancing and try to bend the curve of transmission of this dreaded virus. As the “king of social awkwardness,” I did not miss seeing my fellow believers as much as many of you may have missed this weekly experience. But, I am not so selfish that I do not understand the importance of meeting togther for worship. In fact, I am one who champions the absolute necessity of Christians gathering together for worship. Fortunately, the church that I am privileged to attend began meeting for in-person Worship Services as soon as the local government permitted it to do so.

The warmth of fellowship we feel when we meet with other believers is profound. That is exactly the spirit within which the Apostle Paul writes to the Christians in Rome in the verse at the beginning of this blog post.

“Let me give you a word of advice,” Paul writes. “Welcome one another in the same way that the Lord Jesus Christ has welcomed you into His Kingdom. His gracious, loving, and enthusiastic welcome for you has come about as a way of giving glory to His Father, God. In this same way, when you welcome each other, you do so to bring glory to God.”

We need to keep this admonition always in mind. When we welcome each other with tender hearts and great joy, we bring glory to God. He is our Father, and He delights in the joy of His beloved children. We welcome each other as brothers and sisters, bonded together by the blessed hope that God has given us, through His dearly loved Son, Jesus.

So, when you see one of your fellow believers this day, greet that one warmly. Welcome them in the same way that Christ has welcomed you. If you do, you will bring glory to God. And that, dear ones, is a very, very good thing.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Receive this Blessing

 

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—2 Corinthians 13:14

A dear pastor friend of mine, who graduated to heaven many years ago, once told me that the most enjoyable part of a worship service for him as a pastor came when he could pronounce a Benediction over the people at the end of the service. Having told me that, I began to notice the increase in energy and the great joy that I sensed in his voice, as he spoke words of God’s blessing each week.

I have found that this pastor’s words have proven true in my own life. One of the reasons I decided to start this blog, way back at the end of March in 2008, and have continued to write nearly 1,900 blog posts, is that I wanted to do something that would encourage my fellow believers. For the most part, my blog posts have intended to offer encouragement to those who follow the pathway God has laid out before them. So, in a sense, I have wanted my blog posts to speak words of encouragement and blessing into the lives of those who might read these posts.

Blessing others is one of the tasks of obedience God has given us that will please Him and also have a profound effect on others. I do not know a single person for whom the words “Well done!” do not have a significant meaning. We all need encouragement. We all need a blessing. We all need to know that we mean enough to someone else that we can receive a blessing from that one. Notice what the Apostle Paul writes to his fellow believers in the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

These are certainly potent words. And, as we begin a new day, we should take note of what Paul has done and do it for our fellow believers. Just as Paul wrote words of benediction—words of blessing—to his fellow believers, we should write or speak the same.

This day, dear ones, may God fill you with the fullness of His divine presence and encourage you to share His blessing with others.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Me! Me! Me!

 

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.

—Philippians 2:3-4

No clear-thinking individual can watch a child grow from infancy into young adulthood without observing the stark reality that each of us has an in-born sin nature that we inherited from our parents, and they from their parents, all the way back to Adam’s original sin. Infants focus totally on themselves. Toddlers focus totally on themselves. Parents have to teach young children to focus on someone other than themselves.

By our very nature, we focus on: “ Me! Me! Me!” We have to learn and then motivate ourselves to think about and focus on others. What a joy exists when we observe someone who has put himself or herself so totally in the background of his or her thinking that he or she seems to have concern only for others.

During this time of worldwide strife, we find outselves surrounded by individuals who have chosen to focus only on the needs of others. All of the individuals who serve us during this tragic time—military men and women, public safety officials, medical professionals, service industry employees, and a host of others—countless numbers of individuals have put aside their own safety and well-being in order to make certain we have what we need to continue living in as much safety as possible.

The Apostle Paul instructed the “Christ’s-ones” gathered in the church at Philippi with the words contained within the Scripture verse quoted at the beginning of this blog post. “Make humility your guide,” Paul declares. “Do not let your own self-interest motivate your actions. Rather, put the needs of others first.”

As we begin another new day of life, these words should penetrate our consciousness and motivate us to follow the Apostle”s teaching. Let’s not allow our own selfish wills to set the pathway of our lives. Rather, let’s determine to push ourselves to learn the needs of others and do our best to meet those needs. Whether such action occurs within the boundaries of our own families, or within our own churches, or within our communities, or within whatever circumstances we find ourselves, we will do well to live in such a way.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Children of Light

 

… for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

—Ephesians 5:8-10

If you have chosen to read very many of my nearly 1,900 blog posts, by now you realize that I am generally writing to individuals who, at some point in their lives, sensed the convicting power of the Holy Spirit pushing them to believe in the life-transforming power of God’s precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Said another way, for the most part, I have aimed these blog posts at believing “Christ’s-ones” or Christians. By so doing, I prayerfully hope that my words will encourage Christians in their daily walk along the pathway that God has laid out for them.

The teaching of the Apostle Paul, found in the verses at the beginning of this particular blog post, describes exactly the condition in which each one of us followers of Jesus found ourselves. “At one time,” Paul insists, “you were in darkness.” Truthfully, each one of us entered this world in darkness—the darkness of the sin-curse that we inherited from our parents, and they from their parents. Then, at some point along the pathway of our lives, the Holy Spirit began to speak words of conviction to the depths of our innermost being. Those words of conviction prompted us to recognize that we were trapped in sin—the original sin we inherited, and also the sins we had committed on our own.

The revelation of the Holy Spirit didn’t stop with that conviction. He spoke to our inner beings in such a way that we became fully aware of the great gift that God had given us in the redeeming power of the blood of His Son, Jesus. That sacrifice of Christ on the cruel cross of Calvary became a once-and-for-all covering of our sins with His precious blood. We had previously been condemned before the holiness of God. But now, we were redeemed! God had chosen us to belong to Himself. In fact, as we would soon learn, God had chosen us to belong to Himself before the foundation of the earth.

No human reasoning could explain why God chose us. We were not worthy of His choosing. Nevertheless, God did, indeed, choose us to belong to Himself. Having chose us, He drew us to Himself through the convicting power of His Holy Spirit. Once we began to understand what God had done for us, we became increasingly aware that we belonged to Him. We passed from the darkness of sin into the glorious light of His holiness.

The Apostle Paul proceeds from this revelation—that once we were children of darkness and now we are children of light—to urge us to walk the pathway of our lives as children of light. Paul urges us to live as children of light by discerning which decisions we make and actions we take will please the Lord.

So, the question that each of us must ask ourselves, every moment of every day: “Am I living in such a way that is pleasing to God?” I cannot answer that question for you. I can only answer that question for me.

I can and do encourage both you and me to walk as children of light. In this moment and the next and the next, let’s determine, with help from the in-dwelling Holy Spirit, to live as children of light.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}