ONLINE CHURCH BULLETIN

Preferences

1 John 2.15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
 
John spent about three years with Jesus. After living with Jesus, the Spirit guided him into all truth (John 16.13). He wrote regarding the two most important questions we face:

What do I believe? 

John believed the truth and he exhorted others to know that THE TRUTH is equivalent to the doctrine/teachings of Jesus--the gospel: John 8.32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
 
John 17.7 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
2 John 4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.

He and the other apostles knew that they would be hated, rejected and killed for the truth.

John 16.1 "All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 

They held the truth tightly and their lives loosely. This is surely what Paul meant by being "crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2.20). May we do the same.

The second question is closely associated with the first: What should I do?

Will I be guided by my personal preferences/feelings/desires or will I look  up to the Father and say, as Saul did, "What shall I do, Lord?" (Acts 22.10a).

Look at the life of Jesus and then at the lives of the apostles. What did they prefer? They had one preference--to do the Father’s will--to obey God. They preferred duty to comfort.

Go back to Olivet. Why did Jesus endure the agony in the garden and on the cross? He preferred to do the Father’s will. Did He want to avoid suffering? Did He want to call "10,000 angels" or fly away from the mob?

Luke 22.41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
 
He had the human desire--as a man--to avoid the suffering but he preferred to do His duty, the Father’s will. This preference made Him our Savior! He and the apostles exemplify what someone has written:

"To choose the difficult
All one’s days,
As if it were easy,
This is Faith."

When we face dilemmas or difficult decisions, we probably do not anticipate a cross or a sword as the result of our choice. We can be grateful for that. However, for us to have fellowship with the Father and live forever, we must prefer doing God’s will more than personal pleasure or comfort.

Following Christ means believing the truth and doing the Father’s will. We are grateful that He has told us how to live...because without His Word, we would be adrift, "...like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (James 1.6b).

If you believe the truth and prefer to do the Father’s will in every aspect of your life, you have an anchor, the hope of living with Him forever! When we choose obedience, we choose Life.

Hebrews 6.19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Dear Father, sometimes we are confused and discouraged. We confess our sins--our lapses--our failures to always love the truth and do Your will. We are grateful for our forgiveness in Christ. Help us to dismiss our personal, flimsy preferences. Help us today to prefer truth and obedience to Your will in all that we think and do. We want to live with You forever and we are so grateful for this hope in Christ. Help those who are hurting. We ask this in the name of Christ, our Hope. Amen.

1 John 5.14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. Only God can know HOW our prayers WORK but we believe HE answers.

Let us be thankful and prayerful!

Love
Brad Forgy