and How Only Jesus Christ Satisfies Us
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Philippians chapter 4, verse
1 reveals a profound truth about God’s love for us, which God put into the
heart of Paul for the church at Philippi.
Philippians
4:1 -- “[1]
Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so
stand fast in the Lord, my dearly
beloved.” [End quote]
In
Philippians 1:8, Paul wrote this:
Philippians
1:8 -- “[8] For God is my record, how greatly I
long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.” [End quote]
{Note: Paul longed after them
in the nature of the deep, compassionate, yearning love of Jesus Christ. (Bowels
refers to deep love, yearning, earnest desire, deep feelings). Jesus Christ
and God the Father have this deep, yearning love and compassion, and deep
feeling for the Church and for the whole world. See John 17:23.}
Paul, who was once called
Saul, was a former persecutor of Christians before he had a powerful vision
from Jesus, revealing His love and truth and that Jesus is the Messiah and Son
of God. Shortly that vision, Paul became
a born-again Christian and began preaching the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles. He
was transformed from a zealous Pharisee who sought to imprison and stop
Christians from spreading the Gospel to a godly man who preached the very
Gospel he once despised.
So, when Paul wrote to the Philippian
Christians calling them “… my brethren dearly
beloved and longed for, my joy and crown,…”, he was
speaking from the heart of Jesus, who gave Paul that love for the Church. It is
the same type of love that Jesus has for the Church, which is His Bride. We are
dearly loved by Abba Father God. He longs for us and He considers
us to be His joy and crown.
In Isaiah 62, God calls the
believers (Jews and Gentiles who believe on Jesus, the Messiah) His crown, His
delight, and His Bride who He rejoices over.
Isaiah 62:3-5 says: “[3] Thou
shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD,
and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. [4] Thou shalt no
more be termed Forsaken ; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate :
but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah : for the
LORD delighteth in thee,
and thy land shall be married. [5] For as a
young man marrieth a virgin, so shall
thy sons marry thee : and as the
bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall
thy God rejoice over thee.” [End quote]
[Hephzibah: ‘my delight is in her’.] [Beulah: ‘married’.]
Isaiah
62:11-12 says: “[11] Behold, the Lord
hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter
of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh ; behold, his reward
is with him, and his work before him. [12] And they
shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord
: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.” [End quote]
Again,
look at what the Holy Spirit had Paul write.
Philippians
4:1 -- “[1]
Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so
stand fast in the Lord, my dearly
beloved.” [End quote]
Imagine if Jesus said these
words. And, He really did. Jesus said the above message through Paul. And, not
only does Jesus and Abba God love us, but God also gives us fullness of joy
right now. All we need to do is just believe, and seek to know, and desire to
know God intimately as a Friend and Abba Father.
Having True Joy in Jesus
We give some verses, below,
about true joy, which found only in Jesus Christ. This joy is received
by simple faith and by desiring to know Jesus Christ.
Psalm
16:11 says: “Thou wilt show me the path of life
: in thy presence is
fulness of joy ; at thy right hand there
are pleasures for evermore.”
Romans
15:17 says: “[17] For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink ; but righteousness, and peace,
and joy in the Holy
Ghost.”
1
John 1:3 says, in part: “… and truly our
fellowship is with the Father,
and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
1
John 1:4 says: “[4] And these things write we
unto you, that your joy may be full.”
Matthew
6:22 says: “[22] The light of the body is the
eye : if therefore thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light.”
John
8:12 says: “[12] Then spake Jesus
again unto them, saying, I am the light of the
world : he that followeth me shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
John
14:23 says: “Jesus answered and said unto him,
If a man love me, he will keep my words : and my Father will love him, and we
will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
{Note: The word for love in the phrase “… my
Father will love him…” is phileo. It is a Greek word that refers
to a personal, friendship, relationship love. Abode refers to a dwelling
place. The Father God and Jesus Christ dwell in the spirit and soul of a
believer. Therefore, we can have, even now, wonderful fullness of joy by
looking to Jesus. God’s presence is in a believer. See also 1 Corinthians
6:19.}
But, there are arguments the
enemy throws at us to get us to doubt these truths.
Answering the Lies of the Devil with the Truth from
God’s Word
{Point
1} One false statement is that “you are not good
enough for God to love you like that.” This is a lie from the devil to have
people believe that God only loves us based on our merit or on what we do. God
loves you because He created you. Jesus said these great words in John chapter
17, verse 23:
[John 17:23]
“[23] I
in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one ; and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them,
as thou hast loved me.” [End quote]
He was speaking to Abba
Father God in a prayer. ‘Them’ refers to the Church in the first part of the
verse. The last part of the verse refers to the Church and the world,
starting right after the semicolon ( ; ) in the verse above. Jesus is saying
that Abba God the Father loves the world and the Church (“ … thou … hast
loved them, …”) in the same way that He loves Jesus Christ, who is His Only
Begotten Son and who is equal to God the Father.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
{Point
2} But, the devil is not happy with just attacking
through one lie. He uses multiple lies to get people to doubt God’s Word and to
turn away from our good, righteous, loving God, who earnestly wants us to know
Him and be with Him. Another lie the devil throws at us is that God supposedly ‘has
favorites’ and that ‘we just don’t fit into’ His ‘favorites category.’ But,
that is a lie.
Galatians 3:26-29 says:
“[26] For ye are all the children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus.
[27] For as many of you as have been baptized
into Christ have put on
Christ.
[28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female : for ye are all
one in Christ Jesus.
[29] And if ye be
Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs
according to the promise.” [End quote]
Romans 2:11 says: “[11]
For there is no respect of persons with God.” [End quote]
James 2:1 says: “[1] My
brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord of glory, with respect of persons.” [End quote]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
{Point
3} The lying, deceiving devil says, ‘You have to do works,
and perform, and do things for God in order for God to love you, care for you,
and bless you.’ But, the devil is the father of lies, as Jesus said in John
8:44. There is no truth in demons (a.k.a. devils), or in their commanders (the
principalities and powers), or in their supreme commander, Satan.
But, the Bible, God’s Word
(which is completely pure and true) says:
Proverbs 30:5-6 says:
“[5] Every word of God is
pure : he is a
shield unto them that put their trust in him.
[6] Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove
thee, and thou be found a liar.” [End quote]
Romans 8:32 says this about
God’s love and blessings for us believers: “[32]
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ?”
2
Corinthians 5:17 says: “[17] Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he
is a new creature : old things are passed away ;
behold, all things are become new.” [End quote]
1
Corinthians 1:29-31 says:
“[29] That no flesh should glory in his presence.
[30] But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption :
[31] That, according as it is written, He that
glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord.” [End quote]
{Note on verse 1 Cor. 1:29. Our fleshly nature
should not boast or find any prestige in the presence of God. God dwells in the
spirit of a Christian who truly has made Jesus his personal Savior and Lord. It
is Jesus Christ alone who makes us righteous, sanctified (set
apart from the world and holy), and redeemed (purchased from the enemy’s
camp).
We should not trust in our works because that is actually boasting in
the fleshly nature and not only in Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ deserves all
honor, recognition, and praise. Doing works to
‘earn’ something from God is not trusting
in what Jesus accomplished at the cross and in who Jesus Christ is, who dwells
in a believer.}
Hebrews 10:15-18 says:
“[15] Whereof the
Holy Ghost also is a witness to us : for after that he had
said before,
[16] This is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord ;
I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their
minds will I write them ;
[17] and their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more.
[18] Now where remission of these is,
there is no more offering for sin.” [End quote]
Hebrews
10:19-22 says:
“[19] Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus,
[20] by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us, through
the veil, that is to say, his flesh ;
[21] and having a
high priest over the house of God ;
[22] let us draw near with a
true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” [End quote]
{Note:
By the blood of Jesus, we enter the holiest place (Heb. 10:19), where the
Father God dwells through His Spirit. That holiest place is a place of
intimate, loving fellowship with Abba Father God’s Spirit. It is only by way of
the blood of Jesus Christ and by what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross
that we enter that place. To enter, we do nothing but just believe this truth
and seek to know God our Abba Father better.}
🌍 ➠ If you would like to know Abba God the Father and Jesus Christ (God the Son), and be saved from sin, click here to read more. There is no other way of salvation than by trusting in Jesus Christ the Savior (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Our own works can never save us.
"[3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour ;
[4] who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; [6] who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." [1 Timothy 2:3-6.]
"[38] Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." [Acts 2:38.]
"[3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour ;
[4] who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; [6] who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." [1 Timothy 2:3-6.]
"[38] Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." [Acts 2:38.]
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