Categories
Tag: Stephen Kuntzman
Categories
Relationship
Categories
You’ve Got A Friend
Text:
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 15:12-17, “(12) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. (13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. (16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (17) These things I command you, that ye love one another.”
Proverbs 18:24, A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
Perhaps the most well-known line in the New Testament stems from John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world…”
It is essential that we receive His love if we are to be productive and successful in the purpose He has set before each of us.
“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you…”
Jesus is simply saying that considering the friendship He has offered and the sacrifice for us that He has made, we reveal the true depth of our love by “observing His commands from a principle of love”[1]
His love, His mercy, His Grace and His friendship has so influenced us that our return of affection and attachment to Him is displayed by our loving faith and obedience to Him and His Word.
But we have an adversary, who is daily opposing you to destroy you.
This enemy uses every tactic available to get you to lose heart and push away the friendship that Jesus has given to us, by disregarding His Word and losing faith in His purpose for us.
Peter’s epistle is clear, “(12) Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: (13) But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. (14) If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified” (1 Peter 4:12-14).
We sometimes need to get a new perspective of what’s going on when we battle the adversary.
We are not the first person to suffer trials
We won’t be the last
Rejoice! Your trial – as long as you are living in obedience to God’s Word – is a sign that you are in the perfect will of God.
We are tempted to retreat when the enemy makes his moves on us.
To turn and run in the day of battle
But God is our strength and a very present help in times of trouble.
Jesus doesn’t abandon you. He is with you.
If you have the Holy Ghost, it’s His Spirit in you that gives and grants you power of overcome the most deadly situations.
God is you friend.
He said, “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5).
Therefore we can say with boldness, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:6).
You’ve Got A Friend –Carole King
When you’re down and troubled
And you need some lovin’ care
And nothin’, nothin’ is goin’ right
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest night
You just call out my name
And you know, wherever I am
I’ll come runnin’
To see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I’ll be there
You’ve got a friend
Now, ain’t it good to know that you’ve got a friend
When people can be so cold?
They’ll hurt you, yes, and desert you
And take your soul if you let them
Oh, but don’t you let them
Don’t let the enemy take your soul, your hopes, your dreams, your faith.
That ‘ol slew foot devil is no stranger to ripping apart friendships, and he has several strategies he employs:
- Deception – he wants to deceive you by any means necessary. A lie, an assumption, a misleading question, a doubtful thought, a misunderstanding are all deceiving tactics.
- Destruction – he thinks that if he can destroy all you hold dear that you’ll take the unwanted advice of Job’s wife, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die” (Job 2:9).
- Distraction – he wants you to be so overwhelmed by what is going on around you that you’ll lose focus on your purpose and you’ll even give up on your dream.
- misplaced priorities…well-meaning as they may seem…will divert you from your focus.
- Delight – We are living in a day of delight, of amusement, of entertainment. It is a time where are just caught up with the pleasure we receive watching, hearing ad partaking of the newest thing out there. It can be clothes, cars, music, movies, political intrigue, conspiracy theories, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok – It’s all delightful to the flesh and it is drawing you away from friendship from God as you wholeheartedly take part in it.
- James 4:1-8, “(1) From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? (2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. (3) Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. (4) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (5) Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? (6) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
- Delay – Delay is not denial, but the enemy will make you think it is. Don’t Quit! Keep on living for the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
- Diffident – “modest or shy because of a lack of self-confidence.”[2] The devil wants you to be timid, shy, fearful…intimidated. Intimidation is the devil’s tool, but refuse his attack and remember this, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
All that this enemy wants to do it destroy your friendship with God, but he is already a defeated foe.
Our friend has already defeated all the works of the devil.
You’ve Got a Friend!
No, Not One –Johnson Oatman Jr. (1856-1926)
There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus:
No, not one! no, not one!
None else could heal all our souls’ diseases:
No, not one! no, not one!
Jesus knows all about our struggles;
He will guide ’til the day is done:
There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus:
No, not one! no, not one!
A Word about Dreams:
Small dreams are accompanied by small struggles and little results.
The great dreamers all suffered heartbreak and were tempted to despair and give up on their dream.
To be tempted to toss aside their faith and lose hope because the opposition to the dream is so great is a normal temptation, but the dreamer who keeps moving forward is placing his trust in something bigger than himself.
Joseph held onto the dream God gave him throughout all his struggles, all his disappointments, all his opposition. If he’d given up on his dream…his purpose…his family would have possibly died in the famine, Egypt would have become a dust bowl, and God’s dream for Joseph…His purpose…would have been thwarted.
Opposition is a compliment. It is a sure sign that you are heading in the right direction.
So, don’t allow the carnal voices of the unsaved, the ungodly, or the unspiritual distract you from your purpose, or get you to lose heart and give up your faith in the dream God placed in you.
He called you to it, He will take you through it.
[1] John Gill
[2] Diffident. OxfordDictionaries. Oxford University Press.
Categories
Should We Look for Another
Matthew 11:1-6
(1) And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. (2) Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, (3) And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? (4) Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: (5) The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. (6) And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
We call him “John the Baptist.” He was the cousin of our Lord Jesus Christ, a man of passion and fervor who preached the message of baptism for repentance.
He even preached of the soon coming Messiah who preparing the people to receive.
Malachi 3:1, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:…” – That’s John
This is Jesus – “…and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”
He was a man on a mission, unafraid of the faces of others who would try to block and diminish the message he preached.
Nobody could buy his silence, distract him from his duty, or sidetrack him from his purpose.
He preached fervently a message that identified Sin and called sinners to Repent:
Matthew 3:4-12, “(4) And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. (5) Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, (6) And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. (7) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: (9) And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. (10) And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (11) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: (12) Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
And when he recognized the One who was mightier than he, with upraised hand on banks of the Jordan River, he focused the crowd’s attention on the Lord Jesus Christ walking down to the water saying:
John 1:29-34, “(29)…Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (30) This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. (31) And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. (32) And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. (33) And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Uponwhom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. (34) And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.”
John was a man, a prophet of God, stuck between to covenants, wedged (if you will) between two biblical ages.
He was caught in a time of transition.
And finally, his prophetic ministry got him in trouble and now He’s in a prison for doing what he’s called to do. Naming sin(regardless of who it is, or how powerful they might be), and calling sinners to repentance.
Herod was guilty of adultery and incest with Herodias.
Herod, because of the fury of his guilty wife Herodias, had John throne into prison.
Have you ever been in a traffic jam? Felt the frustration of knowing that you can’t go backwards, and there’s a blockage forward, but your irritation is really because you have a vision of where you’re going and you just want to get there.
John, had a moment of frustration and he sent men to ask Jesus, “Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? (Luke 7:20).
Jesus’ response to the frustration of John was simply to tell him the fruit of His ministry: “And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me” (Luke 7:21-23).
Herodias had a daughter.
She was a damsel.
Certain writers identify her by the name “Salome,” which means “peaceful.”
She was supposed to be a peaceful, calm, moderate, modest individual, but her example was her mother who was none of those things.
Herodias had a flesh problem…her flesh was out of control.
She allowed her daughter to dance before Herod a sensual seductive dance that so impressed his own flesh to the point that he promised her anything she wanted
Out of control flesh saw the opportunity and said, “I want to silence that prophetic voice in my life. I want to sever that message to such a degree that I’ll never hear it again.”
So, Herod listened to the damsel, who was instructed in her godless way by her mother, and rather than face the confrontation that would be difficult, but right, he gave in.
A friend told me that “when you disobey the messenger, don’t be surprised when God goes silent.”
No more words came from the lips of the last prophet of the Old Testament.
No more anointed heaven sent messages would be heard from the mouth of one who Jesus said, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist:…” (Matthew 11:11).
Jesus did go on to say, “…Notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
It is imperative that we recognize that we are the Children of God.
As great as John the Baptist was he was not able to be in the kingdom of heaven.
As great as his message of repentance was it is inadequate when compared to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We are all, every born again saint and minister of gospel in here, greater in understanding of the New Birth.
So, we all have a responsibility to not only obey the gospel and share the gospel, but to take on the characteristics of this gospel message that placed us into this Kingdom of Heaven, which is the Church and is identified by Paul as Wisdom from the Spirit: “(6) Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: (7) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: (8) Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (9) But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (10) But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (11) For what man knoweththe things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (13) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (14) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (15) But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. (16) For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
James identified this mind of Christ as “wisdom that is from above.”
(17) But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. (18) And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
James also identified the wisdom of this sinful world:
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. (15) This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. (16) For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
So, we go to our text, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?”
It is plain to see that we are engaged in a spiritual battle between to different governing spiritual systems:
1. Wisdom from Above = Kingdom of Heaven
2. Wisdom of this earth = Kingdom of this world
Took a drive today through the countryside and ended up at Remo’s Hotdogs in Gallipolis, OH (my new favorite hotdog joint).
During my meandering course through the hills of southeastern Ohio, I noticed the abundance of old barns on the farms along the way. I’ve always related, for some reason, to the weathered, and sometimes dilapidated, look of an old barn standing alone in a meadow, or beside an old country road, or on a hill near an old farmhouse.
Oftentimes, they look abandoned, and I’ve thought about what use they serve now sitting there empty or full of castaway items long forgotten and rejected by time.
There is a beauty in the way those old barns stand in stately ancestral pride, and, yet, in the same location we view a sad story of neglect.
The reality is, at some point their usefulness was no longer needed and for whatever reason they were left to stand as a testimony to the greatness that once was the American breadbasket.
Now, I don’t think those old faded barns were all intentionally left to fall into ruin, but over time each owner let down on some important area of maintenance.
Perhaps, one too many Summers went by without a fresh coat of paint.
Maybe, they intended to fix those hinges and broken window panes “soon.”
Or, the metal roof blown away in the storm exposing the rough hewn beams, rafters and trusses underneath were just too expensive and hopefully we’ll have the money next season, or after the harvest to fix it right.
I don’t know, I’m just speculating that those old beautiful haunted barns need not be neglected to the point of rejection, or abandonment.
I think relationships are often a lot like those once majestic barns. Their utility and usefulness are necessary and we really couldn’t do life properly without a well built and oft maintained relationship (with Jesus or friends or family or spouse).
Sometimes wistful thoughts of old friends, or even newer ones, come to mind and we realize that we’ve let up on maintaining healthy relationships. I’ve said it and I’ve heard it said, “Remember when…?”
I don’t think many relationships end overnight (it’s the rare occasion when a storm or fire destroys or burns down a barn). Instead, it’s the little areas of maintenance left undone that accumulate over time.
Things like, ignoring that inner voice that draws us to prayer; or to call someone; we engage in less and less one-on-one activity; miss events that we use to make time for and share with another; avoid real and meaningful conversations; diminish, or, God help us, eliminate prayer time; and so on.
So, today, not tomorrow or when you find the time, but right now, call that special loved one, or run by their house and sit on the porch with them. Turn off the cellphone and talk and listen and laugh and cry and dream and share and hope and pray and brush on that paint and tighten that hinge and glaze that pane and cover that roof.
-Stephen Kuntzman (6/6/2020)
Categories
DOUBT — Fit For The King
Is it okay to struggle with doubt? This is a question that plagues my mind often. A lot of times I feel like a doubting Thomas. “Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John20:29) Jesus appeared unto the disciples […]
The Pillar and Ground of Truth 