1 John 3:22 “And whatsoever we [ask], we receive of him, because we keep his [commandments], and do those things that are [pleasing] in his sight.” Commentary: Let us look at the bracketed words in the Greek. The first word “ask”, is a unique word. It means making a request based on equal footing with the giver that is what he has is also mine! Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you in heaven! What he has is already mine! This is the covenant! Jesus died on a Cross over two thousand years ago yet all those born before him or after him can have what he has! Redemption! Eternal life! Blessings! Ask and it shall be given you pressed down and overflowing! The promises of God are already given to us we cannot earn them just have the faith or trust in God to receive them! In the natural we ask something from someone because we do not have what they possess! You already have the possessions of God you need to activate them through faith! Without faith it is impossible to please God! Sometimes we ask amiss! We ask for things we already have! The second word “keep” means to help and watch over guard and preserve! This is what we should be doing with the Word of God! When popular culture says homosexuality is good we lift up a standard against the lies of Satan with the scriptures! The third word “commandments”, means a lawful order issued by the Commander! If you have been in the military you will better understand this word! The Commander sets all priorities! While in the military the Commander of our military unit called me to his office one day! What now? Am I in trouble? He told me I was to only worry about what he worries about! Dismiss any other worries! My only concern should be his concern! Then we will be on the same page and you will be a good soldier! Your ten worries are as follows! First you! Then the list went on and by the time he was done I came out of his office a new man! We are to be concerned with Jesus Commandments! Love your enemies! Treat other people as you want to be treated! Love your neighbor! Forgive as you have been forgiven! Who is your commander? God? Satan? Self? Our final word is “pleasing”. To please God means to be in agreement with God’s Word! We ask in accordance with it, we keep it guarded and preserved, follow the orders of our Commander, and please God by being in agreement with his Word! This is the scriptural ideology the Apostle John was conveying to the church past, present and future! James & Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: ask
Ask Your Pastor!
I asked my Pastor if he thought I would make it to heaven? He told me he thought I would but? But what? I believe you will be on probation for a long time!
Prayer 1 John 5:11-15
Our relationship with God involves prayer! How would you describe your prayer life? Here are some possible answers to this question. 1. Unashamed begging-desperate 2. Loud and lengthy-convicted 3. Terrified whispers-uncertain 4. Sterile and formal-religious, distant and impersonal 5. Speechless-do not know what to say, wordless 6. Confident prayers. Some say prayer is just a conversation with God. No! First you need to know who God is and then teach our children who God is! If we know who God is we can pray confidently! If you do not know who God is then you will pray amiss! If you do not trust God then you will trust in the wrong things. How would you describe God? God is love! He has given us eternal life through His Son! What is eternal life? Eternal life includes past, present and future. He cleans all your files past, present and future! Life means an existence without end. Jesus gave us a sample when He raised the dead! He has promised to raise you one day from the dead! He has prepared a place for you! When I came to Christ a new life began in me! All things were made new! A new reality struck me like lightning! Born again! A blessed assurance of confidence entered my life! Fear and anger and hate were replaced by love, peace and joy! Now I know He loves me and it changed everything! He is more precious than silver and more costly than gold! When we find out who God is we can pray with confidence! The world will wear you down with it’s troubles and religion! We are talking about relationship here! When you come before the creator and ruler of the world and ask anything according to His will and purpose for your life you got it! God is unique in that He can hear all our prayers all at once! Like a mother who can hear all her screaming kids at once. God’s faithfulness is like a money back guarantee! After 25 years of marriage I have learned about non-verbal communication. With eye to eye contact I know the answer before I ask her! When we are intimate with God we know the answer before we ask Him! I know of some schools that give the students the answers before the test but that is cheating! With God you ask in prayer and He will give you an answer! Either yes, no or wait. We can approach God with confidence and know He is listening! He respects you and hears your prayers. Through the Holy Spirit it is like eye to eye contact with God! God is leaning into you! He is paying attention to you! He also wants your attention! We should ask for things He wants to give us! Revelation; Pray His promises to you! Reading and studying the Bible will lead to proper conversation and prayers to God! We already know the answers to our prayers if we pray His promises! God will bring good people into your life and lonely people to minister too! Just as in marriage intimate relationship with God leads to success! That is why Satan works overtime to break up relationships and marriages. We are going to tackle next year with a strong foundation for our families as provided to us in the Gospel of John Chapters 14, 15,16 and 17. Jesus said, “Ask in my name and I will do it!” If we remain in Him we will ask the right things! Marriage should be a picture of our relationship with God! We His church are His bride! In regards to prayer we can ask from those we know very well! Our promises from God are guaranteed! They are sure! Good as gold! Here is a sample of His promises to us from the Bible. 1. He gives us peace. John 14:27. 2. He wants to give us rest. Matthew 11:28. 3. He wants to give us courage. John 16:33. 4. He wants to give us wisdom. Luke 21:15. 5. He wants to give us a family. Psalm 68:5-6. The Bible says you have not because you ask not! Do you take time to ask or try to go it on your own? Pray God’s promises! It is so exciting to give God the Glory when He comes through! God loves to hear from you as you remind Him who He is! A father likes to hear from his children that he is their father! Prayer changes circumstances! One of the Greek words for prayer in the New Testament means to invert in a good sense! From poor to rich! From sad to joy! From lonely to relationships! From purposeless to purpose! From weakness to power! From hate to love! From hell to heaven! Try God and see He is good! Source; Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The Respectful Are Respected! 1 Timothy 5:1-4
Instructions from God for a good outcome in your life! Respect elders. Encourage elders. Treat the younger as your brothers and sisters. Care for widows. What happens inside our homes counts! Important! The Christian home is the alternative community that is opposite to the dark, broken dysfunctional world that we live in. Politicians just reflect our broken culture. Church should be different. Debt free and living for others! Live more responsible with more to give away! Problem is the world does not see us any different from them. Just reminds them of themselves and what they hate. We must reinvent a new way of living. When the Church lives most unlike the world it has it’s greatest impact of reaching the world for Christ. Honor those in front of us. The older are farther along and have met things we have not. Wisdom comes from God and through time! Remember the word time means “to honor.” Old is gold. American culture spends between 90-100 Billion dollars each year for anti-aging gimmicks. Hopeless and expensive ways to try to stay young. The Bible teaches that grey hair is a gift from God. The elderly have great opportunities to help the younger. Many of the young today do not know how to ask questions. Be responsible to help widows. Seek out widows in need. John 19:25-27. Take care of your mother. With all the suffering and pain of the Cross and near death Jesus thought about his mother. A disciple took her from the execution place to care for her in his home. Why did not James take care of her? Mary was also his mother. If you read Acts Chapter 12 you will see James was killed a short time later. Joseph her husband had already passed away. Mary was vulnerable and Jesus saw it. John was the older disciple. Take care of a widow not related to you. James 1:27. Pure religion is to take care of widows and orphans and to keep your heart pure. Be family for them. Do 3 things. Find a widow. Look for them. Find, love and serve them. If you do you will come back here one year later and be a changed person. Joy and peace will enter into you. Honor your parents. Repay your parents. Practice your religion. Look not at them as a burden. Ask them how you can help them. Problem is not all parents are honorable. You could have had dysfunctional and abusive parents. Romans 12:17-18. Repay evil for evil? No! Do not become who you hate! Live at peace with everyone. Forgive. Break the cycle of family violence. Honor parents who are not honorable. Ephesians 6:2. Honor your Father and Mother and life will go well with you. The peace of God will accompany obedience. As a parent myself I do not always get it right. Neither will you. You get one shot in life at parenting. Parents work hard and then kids are gone. When we forgive we give away what we get back. Parents do the best they can at the time. Would we do differently if we could do over again? Yes. God gives us His Grace! Source; Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Message given on Sunday, October 13, 2013. Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com