More Time Alone With Thee

In our quest to follow the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, we strive to know Him. We do this, principally, by spending time each day reading the Bible, God's Word. By reading and meditating on scripture, we give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to lead us into a deeper knowledge, a more intimate relationship, with the Savior.

If you look in a concordance, or use an on-line Bible search tool, to find the instances of the word "know," you will find many references. To know, to gain knowledge of, has significance all throughout the scriptures.

The Apostle John in his first letter to the early church offered these concluding words in 1 John 5:13-15, 18-20. These verses read as follows:

¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him... ¹⁸ We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. ¹⁹ We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. ²⁰ We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

In writing to the believers in the early church, John emphasizes that "the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him..." Jesus, himself, has given us understanding, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, that we may know Him.

I encourage you today to take the time to get to know the Savior. Nothing has greater importance to the person desiring to follow Jesus than to take the opportunity to know Him better.

I'm reminded of a gospel chorus that my youth group used to sing way back in the mid-1960's. Written by Wendell P. Loveless, this simple song had a haunting melody that made it a joy to sing. As a result, the words to the song were very easy to remember. Even all these years later, I still hear those words of prayer:

More time alone with Thee, Lord Jesus.
More time alone with Thee.
More time to know Thyself, Lord Jesus.
Thou hast done all for me.

Deep is Thy love.
Sweet is Thy Peace.
Wondrous Thy grace,
Sufficient for every need.

More time alone with Thee, Lord Jesus.
More time alone with Thee.

_{Copyright © 2010 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

 

Is Your Faith Being Reported?

Do you ever wonder what people really say about you? I'm not talking about an unhealthy concern for what people say about the way you look or the way you act or the friends you choose or any of a hundred other qualities that mark your life. I'm asking if you ever stop to consider how people view you through the lens of what's really important?

In measuring who you are, I believe it is important to consider your spiritual reputation in the world you inhabit. Do people think of you as a person of faith? Or, do they hold some contrary opinion?

"He talks a good fight," some may say about you. "But when it comes right down to it, I don't see any evidence that he particularly relies on God." Or, "She always talks about God, but I don't see her trusting God to meet her needs." Is that how people view you? What's your spiritual reputation?

The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Christians in Rome, gave testimony that their spiritual reputation had certainly preceded them. In Romans 1:8, Paul writes these words:

⁸ I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.

Here, Paul was expressing gratitude that the spiritual reputation of the Christians gathered at Rome had spread throughout the world. Imagine that. At the dawn of Christianity, just a relatively few years after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christians in Rome had already become well known as people of faith.

As we walk the pathway of life, we need to examine our own faith reputation. Does our behavior as believers in the Lord Jesus speak well of us? Do we exhibit qualities that come from the leading of the Holy Spirit within us? Have we allowed God to deepen our faith to the point that it becomes evident to the people around us?

Think about your "world," the one in which you spend your time each day. Do people know you as a person of faith? In the deep recesses of your heart and mind, can you hear the Apostle say of you, "I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world?"

_{Copyright © 2010 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

 

To Know Him

One of the great joys of my life is getting to know the people I really care about. When I meet individuals who become my friends, I want to learn everything I can about them. I want to know what experiences they had growing up. I want to know what their family life was like. I want to know what trials or difficulties they may have faced in life. I want to know what joys overtook them as they journeyed along the way.

There is virtually no end to my curiousity about the people I consider my friends. But, it's really not curiousity simply because I am nosy guy. Rather, I want to know about the ones I care about because who they are today is a reflection of every experience they have had throughout the course of their lives. The more I know about them, the better able I will be to relate to the real people that they are.

The Apostle Paul seems to have had a similar drive insofar as his relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ was concerned. In Philippians 3:7-11, Paul writes these words:

⁷ But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

These are truly powerful words: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings..." Paul was driven to know the Lord Jesus Christ in as intimate a way possible. He wanted to fill his mind and heart with the knowledge of Jesus. What did Jesus think? What did Jesus teach? What did Jesus require of those who followed Him? Paul wanted to know all these things, and more.

The pattern of devotion that the Apostle Paul has set calls out to us today. We need to approach our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that mirrors the passion that Paul expresses.

One thing we can do to get to know our Savior: spend time each day reading the Bible, the Word of God. By reading the Bible, we have the opportunity to learn about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We can read and learn about His faithfulness, His patience, His commands, His grace, His mercy, and His peace.

In Psalm 16:8-11, King David writes these words:

⁸ I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,

¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

¹¹ You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

God willingly waits to answer the questions we have. He wants us to know Him. He gave us His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might be able to know Him. He gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us in order to lead us and guide us into the full knowledge of who He is. He desires to set us on the most profitable pathway of life. Then, He will keep us on that pathway.

I urge you to begin this day to seek to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Read the Bible. Find out about your Savior, so you can follow Him more closely.

_{Copyright © 2010 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

 

Others

Childhood memories have such an amazing impact on our lives. The things we were taught as children, coupled with the things we experienced as children, set a lifelong pathway before us.

In my own life, hymns and songs of the church have always played an enormously important part. That, of course, means that those hymns and songs did exactly what they were intended to do. They helped me remember key biblical truths.

Every human has the opportunity to choose whether or not he or she will live a life selflessly or selfishly. Said another way, "Who do you put first in your life?"

As a believer in the life-transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ, I am drawn irresistably into God's grace. As such, I have a desire, deep within my heart, to put Jesus first in my life. So, He has the first place.

But, who comes next in line? Jesus gave instruction when asked the question, "What is the greatest comandment?" We find His answer in Mark 12:28-34, as follows:

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

²⁹ "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' ³¹ The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." ³² "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Jesus tells us to love our neighbor with the same passion, same attention, same deliberation that we love ourselves. Quite a tall order, isn't it?

As a youngster, my mother had a record of Tennessee Ernie Ford singing the song, Others. The lyrics of this song paint a picture that explains exactly what it means to love your neighbor as yourself.

After a great deal of research, I have not been able to locate the person who penned the words or wrote the music to this song. But, here are the lyrics as posted on one website:

Lord, help me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way
That even when I kneel to pray
My prayer shall be for—Others.

Others, Lord, yes others,
Let this my motto be,
Help me to live for others,
That I may live like Thee.

Help me in all the work I do
To ever be sincere and true
And know that all I’d do for You
Must needs be done for—Others.

Others, Lord, yes others,
Let this my motto be,
Help me to live for others,
That I may live like Thee.

Let “Self” be crucified and slain
And buried deep: and all in vain
May efforts be to rise again,
Unless to live for—Others.

Others, Lord, yes others,
Let this my motto be,
Help me to live for others,
That I may live like Thee.

And when my work on earth is done,
And my new work in Heav’n’s begun,
May I forget the crown I’ve won,
While thinking still of—Others.

Others, Lord, yes others,
Let this my motto be,
Help me to live for others,
That I may live like Thee.

Thanks, Mom. You played that album often. The sound of Ernie Ford's voice singing this song is stamped on the deep recesses of my mind. I only pray that by the power God's unfailing grace, and the enabling of the Holy Spirit, I may continually remember to put others ahead of myself.

_{Copyright © 2010 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

 

Prayer for a Friend

Has God laid the name of a friend or acquaintance on your heart? A friend or acquaintance who has not yet received the gift of eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ?

May I suggest that you write that person's name down on a piece of paper and place it inside your wallet. Put it in the same compartment where you keep your paper money.

Everytime you open your wallet to pay with paper money, say a quick, simple prayer for that friend or acquaintance. Ask God to send the Holy Spirit to draw that one irresistably into God's grace.

"But," you respond, "I pay for most bills by credit card."

Okay. Then write the name of your friend or acquaintenance on a credit-card-size piece of paper and place it in your wallet so that when you reach for your credit card you will see the name. Again, every time you see the name, say the quick and simple prayer I suggested above.

God longs to hear such prayers. He longs to work in agreement with His dearly loved children. God cares about the very same people you care about. Just as much as you may want your friend or acquaintance to experience the joy of belonging to God through the life-transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ, God wants that, too.

If the wallet idea doesn't work for you, then write the name of your friend or acquaintance and tape it to your bathroom mirror. Every time you look in the mirror, say a prayer for that person.

The greatest blessing of heaven will be the fact that we will live for all eternity in God's Presence. But, another really important joy will come from sharing that time with those we love and care about. If you have a friend or acquaintance that you really care about, and that you would enjoy spending eternity sharing the blessings of life everlasting, why not take a very easy step and deliberately and intentionally pray for that one's salvation?

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, as follows:

¹ As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. ² For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

God will truly respond to your continuing, effectual, fervent prayers for those you love.

_{Copyright © 2010 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

 

From Creature to Child

I listen to a lot of people discuss serious topics every day. No, I don’t live or work in a place filled with serious discussions. Rather, I listen to at least one most excellent talk radio program faithfully every day. And, I watch at least a couple of hours of Fox News on television every day. Now you understand. Right? I listen to a lot of people have serious discussions every day.

Almost once each week, I hear someone trying to close out a discussion, sometimes with resignation, make the remark, “Well, after all, we’re all God’s children.”

I always respond, “No. We’re not.”

Following the Lord Jesus Christ often forces one to face certain very inconvenient truths. One of those truths: “We are all creatures created by God. But, we are not all children of God.”

”What?” you say. “You’re nuts! Of course we are all God’s children!”

It’s easy to understand why most people would like to wish this were true. Most of our lives we’ve been conditioned to think the best of people, see the “good” in them, treat them equally and with fairness, allow them to be whoever they choose to be. I’m not certain that’s how God looks at humankind.

Oh, yes. God wants every person to come into a relationship with Him. As the Apostle Peter has written:

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

However, the status of moving from creature to child has a very serious and very important condition. As the Apostle John explains in John 1:12-13:

¹² Yet to all who received 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.

”Let me see if I get your point,” you may inquire. “To move from ‘creature’ to ‘child,’ a person has to receive ‘Him.’ Is that right?”

You’ve got it. The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s great gift to humankind. God sent His precious Son to die on Calvary’s cruel cross that the shedding of His blood would, once and for all time, pay the penalty for our sin. God raised His Son, Jesus, from the dead to give us the assurance that in death, we, too, will be resurrected to everlasting life.

And, not only that, God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in the heart of every person who will receive God’s gift of eternal life through His Son. In that “receiving” we acknowledge what God has done for us and, with gratitude, move from a creature to a child.

Once we acknowledge God’s gift, He sets us on a pathway that will lead us to ever-greater obedience to His will and His Word. But, we’re not on that quest alone. Remember? God gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to lead us, to guide us, to help us along our pathway.

So, when I say, “No.” to the idea that we are all God’s children, I am not being some silly, nasty old man who doesn’t like people very much. Quite to the contrary. I believe we must determine to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. And, even more, I want to do everything I can to prayerfully, carefully, and respectfully introduce people to the one person who loved them enough to die for them, the Lord Jesus Christ.

No matter what other paths I may temporarily pursue in the course of my life, in the final analysis, nothing else really matters.

_{Copyright © 2010 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

 

Are you a "Sunshine Christian?"

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. _{-Galatians 2:20}

Are you a “Sunshine Christian?” Have you ever sat down and given careful consideration to the degree to which you have committed yourself to following the Lord Jesus Christ? I don’t know about you, but as someone who has walked with Jesus for over 54 years, I have largely followed an admittedly pretty easy pathway most of my Christian life. Yes, I have had some significant difficulty in my life, but more often than not, deciding to follow Jesus has not required very much of me.

As an adopted child, selfishness seems deeply imbued into the fabric of my being. With no other children in my home, and growing up in a neighborhood where almost all the other children had grown up and moved out of their homes, I spent those early, formative years of my life in a completely selfish cocoon.

I’m certain I am not alone. Selfishness seems to assail everyone to some degree. It interferes with harmony in relationships. It affects an individual’s ability to get along at work. It stirs up conflict within the home. Wanting one’s own way sows seeds of discord and disagreement.

In contrast, when we listen to the quiet nudging, or loud shouting, of the Holy Spirit—as He convicts us of our sins and reminds us of the gift God has given us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—we can acknowledge God’s gift and start down a pathway of obedience.

We become obedient when we set aside our own selfish will and consciously choose to follow God’s will. “Not my will but Thine be done.”

The hardest thing we can do is surrender our will to God. Yet, He has sent the Holy Spirit to help us. The Paraclete comes along side us to aid us in our quest for obedience. The Apostle Paul understood this process. When he speaks of the crucifying of self and choosing to follow Christ who lives within us by the power of the Holy Spirit, he offers us the key to obedience.

Just as God has done everything to bring us salvation, He will respond to our conscious choice to follow His will and enable us to do so. He understands that following this pathway will likely be difficult for us. Our sin nature strives mightily against our desire to become obedient.

So, God shines His Light into our emotional being, our intellectual being, our spiritual being, and our physical being. That Light turns our darkness to day. He transforms us into “Sunshine Christians.”

Just as my upbringing as an adopted child imbued selfishness into the core of my being, when I acknowledged God’s claim on my life and received the gift of His salvation through the sacrifice of His Son on Calvary’s cruel cross, He breathed new life into my being. He imbued me with the very Life of Christ. I stopped being a child of darkness and became a child of the great King. I became a “Sunshine Christian.”

Have you sensed within your being a nudging to acknowledge your sins? Have you sensed a tug on your being to open your heart and your mind to the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ? If so, all you have to do is say, “Yes.” Acknowledge your sin and your need of a Savior. Give assent to the fact that God loves you and that He has chosen you before the foundation of the earth to belong to Him. Welcome Him into your life.

If you do that, He will give you Light to illuminate your pathway of obedience to Him. He will joyfully make you a “Sunshine Christian.”

If you’ve walked with God for some time, but find yourself adrift in a sea of selfishness, invite the Holy Spirit to lead you back into a place of full obedience to God’s perfect will. He will gladly take you by the hand and show you the way out of the darkness. He will return you to a place you once knew. He will restore you as a “Sunshine Christian”

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. _{-Galatians 2:20}

_{Copyright © 2010 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}