Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: What is it that we're basing our joy on? Are we basing our joy on having all of our personal expectations met about the safety and the comfort and the security of our life? Or are we basing our joy on our relationship with God and our relationship with one another?

Greg: Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in Biblical Studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Devotion. Let's listen in as JP gives part two of It's All About Relationships.

JP Jones: Temptation, trials, difficulties, persecutions, they are a reality of life in this world. Sometimes we're strong. Sometimes we are living in God's strength and as according to Ephesians chapter six, we've got the shield of faith up and those temptations come and the shield puts out the fiery darts of the evil one. Other times we are weak and the barrage of temptation comes and it defeats us and we succumb to it and we give into it.

What's the difference? The difference is the spiritual context in which we're living. What we're thinking, what we're believing, what's the focus of our faith. When we begin to doubt the goodness of God, when we begin to believe the lie, when we begin to question the intention of God for our lives, we become vulnerable. And in 1 Thessalonians chapter three, what Paul is saying is, "Hey listen, these trials have come to my life, these persecutions have come into your life, that's part of the package."

If you don't understand that, if you don't see God in the midst of it, if you can't be strong and trusting God, what's going to happen is the tempter is going to come and he's going to tempt you and he's going to waylay you. And what was true 2,000 years ago is true today. Things happen in our lives, don't you know that? And we don't have to get into some kind of weird spiritual psychobabble and call bad good. It's bad. Bad things happen to good people.

But God is still sovereign and God is still good and God works those things for His purposes. But realize when that kind of stuff happens, we become vulnerable and the tempter will try to tempt us in those situations. We need to resist. That's what this passage helps us know. Because the enemy has a scouting report on us. This past week, I took my son up to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. It's one of the schools that he's looking at.

We did a campus tour, we went to football practice, we met with the football coach, we stood there and watched practice. Football season's here, gang, whether you like it or not, it's coming. And I was reminded as we were watching them go through their practice and my son starts his senior year of football practice this next week, every game there's a scouting report. He's got about a 20-page report that he has to read through and memorize and learn through, and this is at the high school level, because they scout the opposition to find out the weaknesses and vulnerability of the opposition.

Satan has a scouting report on me. He's got a scouting report on you and he's going to try to tempt us at the places where he thinks we're the weakest. But here's the good news. We have a scouting report on him. It says this in James chapter four, "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He might exalt you at the proper time. Submit therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you." He's got to flee.

You know where Satan is vulnerable? When we come up with all of our strength and ego and pride and fight against him? No. When we humble ourselves before the Lord. When we humble ourselves before the Lord, he's got to flee. Paul, writing to the folks at Thessalonica, said listen, these persecutions are a reality, they're going to come your way, be prepared for them. And also be aware that the tempter is going to try to take advantage of that situation and tempt you.

Back in 1 Thessalonians chapter three, Paul continues in writing to them about relationships and things that he wants them to know and the heart that he wants them to understand that he has for them. Because it's about relationship, he says in 1 Thessalonians 3 verses 6 to 9, "But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought us good news about your faith and love. He's told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we long to see you. Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live since you're standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of God because of you?"

Paul is talking about the joy there is in relationships. It's what prompted him writing this letter in the first place. It's what prompted him even talking about the reality of persecution. It's what prompted him to say the warning about temptation. Why? Because he cares about these people and he wants the best for them, so he's speaking the truth in love to them to help them grow up in their relationship with God. And that's what we need to do, by the way. Because we love people, we need to speak the truth in love to one another to help us grow up.

We have an investment and a stake in one another's lives as followers of Christ. We're part of the same family. We're part of the same new community. We're part of the church. And there is an interdependence that we have. We grow together. And Paul in this passage here is talking about the joy that he has because of his love for them and their love for him. He sends Timothy to find out how they're doing. Timothy comes back and gives a good report. In fact, it says in verse 6 that he brought us good news.

It's the only place in the New Testament where the word for the Gospel and the word for sharing the Gospel, which is evangelized—that's the English transliteration, the Greek word is euangelizomai—it's the only time that word is used for anything other than sharing the message of Jesus Christ. Every other time this word's used, sharing good news means telling someone about Jesus. Here Paul says hearing about how you guys are doing, and that you're rooted in your faith, and that you're following God, and that your love is still strong for the Lord and your love is still strong for us, that was like hearing the Gospel. That was hearing good news.

I was looking at this passage and yesterday I was thinking about this. I do this a lot, I go up to Lake Santa Margarita and I spend time in the Word and prayer and I walk around the lake praying. And I was thinking about this passage and I was walking around the lake thinking it really speaks to my perspective. Because I can become involved in my own little world. So can you. Things happen to us that are less than pleasant or not what we expected or not what we thought God would do.

And I can become so self-focused that my sense of joy is measured by that, and until those circumstances change, I'm not going to be able to feel joy. Until my expectations are met about what I wanted here, my joy is hitting a ceiling. Paul is talking about, "My situation actually hasn't changed, but because I heard you're doing well and because I heard you're growing in the Lord and because I heard your love for me is still strong, I'm feeling joy." It's a matter of perspective.

What is it that we're basing our joy on? Are we basing our joy on having all of our personal expectations met about the safety and the comfort and the security of our life? Or are we basing our joy on our relationship with God and our relationship with one another? You see, when we base our joy on our relationship with God and our relationship with one another, all hell could break loose in our life and we can still have joy. We can still have joy.

It's a matter of perspective and it's a matter of priority. What is it that we really prioritize? Is it our income? Is it our safety? Is it our comfort? Is it our stuff? Or is it God and the people in our life? When we prioritize God and the people in our life, we can have a supernatural joy that transcends even difficult circumstances. Paul says in verse 7 in this passage, "Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged because of your faith." Verse 8, "For now we really live since you're standing firm."

There can be joy in relationship when we really see that it's all about people and it's about the people who are in our world. Paul says this at the end of chapter two, chapter 2 verses 19 and 20, "For what is our hope and our joy and our crown in which we live and in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and our joy." Paul says, "I'm looking to this scene in heaven and I get excited right now because we had a relationship here that made a difference."

I made a difference in your life and you made a difference in my life. God used you to bring me joy because God used me in your life and I saw the fruit of my service in your life and there was a connection in terms of our relationship. So when I think about heaven and getting to heaven, you know what I'm really excited about? That we're going to be there together. It reminds me of the lyric to that Ray Bolt song that came out several years ago.

It says this, "I dreamed I went to heaven and you were there with me. We walked upon the streets of gold beside the crystal sea. We heard the angels singing, then someone called your name. You turned and saw this young man and he was smiling as he came. He said, 'Friend you may not know me now,' and then he said, 'but wait, you used to teach my Sunday School when I was only eight. And every week you would say a prayer before the class would start and one day when you said that prayer, I asked Jesus into my heart. Thank you for giving to the Lord. I'm a life that was changed. Thank you for giving to the Lord, I'm so glad you gave.'"

"Then another man stood before you and he said, 'Remember the time a missionary came to your church? His pictures made you cry. You didn't have much money but you gave it anyway. Jesus took that gift you gave and that's why I'm in heaven today. Thank you for giving to the Lord. I'm a life that was changed. Thank you for giving to the Lord, I'm so glad you gave.' One by one they came far as your eyes could see, each life somehow touched by your generosity. Little things that you had done, sacrifices that you made, they were unnoticed on this earth, in heaven now proclaimed. Thank you for giving to the Lord. I was a life that was changed."

Paul says, "I really live because you're standing firm. I have joy because of your faith. You're my hope and my joy and my crown when I think about that day at the coming of Jesus Christ." You see, it really is a matter of perspective and it's a matter of priority. God says it's all about relationships. That's what matters because that's what we'll take into eternity. And not only will we take relationship into eternity, but right now if we will make relationships our priority, it can give us joy right now.

So Paul closes out this chapter and says this is how I pray for you because of how dear and important you are to me. He says in 1 Thessalonians 3:10-13, "Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones."

Jesus is saying here through the apostle Paul that prayer is one of the tangible ways we express this priority of relationship. If you leave here and you think, "Okay, I learned that relationships are important, but what can I do?" Here's what you can do. You can pray for people. You can pray for me and our pastors. You can pray for the people in your small group. You can pray for the people that you meet today as we dismiss and we spend some great time together and get those good donuts on the patio.

You're hanging out talking to somebody, why don't you write that person's name down? In fact, why don't you ask them, "How can I pray for you this week? What are some of the things you're facing that I can think about and I can pray for you this week?" That is a specific tangible way we could put this into practice. Paul says, "Night and day we pray most earnestly." In Pauline fashion, he makes up a word here where he takes a couple of words and he puts them all together and it really means "with super heartfelt longing."

In other words, Paul was not merely going down a prayer list and checking off, "okay, did that one, did that one, did that one." Nor is he talking about loud wailing, crying, saying lofty things. It's not about that either. It's talking about the heart. The term here "praying most earnestly" is a heart term. I really am asking God to do something in your life and I do it often. I do it regularly. And I do it consistently. Boy, one of the ways we can prioritize our relationships with one another is by praying for each other.

Because prayer changes things. And prayer communicates something. I don't know about you, but when someone tells me, "Hey, you know I was praying for you. How's this going or how's that going? Or it was great to hear how God answered because I was praying for you about that," to me, that's encouraging. Because I know that prayers work. And prayer takes time. And prayer is something that very easily we put at the bottom of our priority list.

So when someone takes the time to pray for me, that tells me I was a priority to them in their thinking and in the way they put their time together. And that makes me feel valued. Maybe that does for you as well. Maybe that did for the folks at Thessalonica and that's why Paul's telling them. He said, "I want to know, I want you to know I'm praying for you." It's included, the prayer that he prays is included.

He says verse 12, "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones." You may feel like, "I just don't know how to pray. I'm not a great prayer. I'm not really sure what I should pray for." Pray this prayer. Pray this for your family, for your spouse, for your kids. Pray this for the people that you meet. Pray this for your neighbors.

Pray that the Lord would make our love increase and overflow. Pray that we'd be strengthened in our hearts so that we could be blameless and holy in the presence of God. Think with me, the spiritual transformation that would take place even among us here if in overlapping circles we were praying for one another because we put this into practice. And you're praying for me and I'm praying for you and the person next to you is praying for the person next to them and they're praying for you and they're praying for the person next to them.

Through all these overlapping circles we're praying. Think of the release of God's life among us, the release of the power of the Holy Spirit among us, the transformational power of Jesus Christ. Wherever we might be in our spiritual journey, to move us to take that next step and to go deeper in our connection with Christ and in our connection with one another. Why? Because Dickie Fox had it right. It's all about relationships. It's all about relationships.

Greg: What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just five dollars. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250.

For your gift of twenty-five dollars or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, Facing Goliath. Please join us every Sunday at 9:00 or 11:00 AM at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks Greg. Did you know that joy in the Christian life is found in our relationship with God and our relationship with one another? That's what the apostle Paul says as he writes to the folks at Thessalonica. This is what he says about his heart and passion and relationship with the believers in Thessalonica. "So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who's our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the Gospel.

We sent him to strengthen and encourage you in your faith so that no one would be unsettled by the trials that you're encountering. You know quite well that we were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted and it turned out that way, as you well know. So for this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent out to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.

But Timothy has now come and given us a word about you. He's brought us good news about your faith and about your love. He's told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we long to see you. Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live since you're standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith."

Paul says this, that he was encountering difficulties, he was encountering persecution, but when he heard that the Thessalonians were doing well, when he heard that they were growing in their faith, it gave him deep and abiding joy. You see, we can have joy no matter what our circumstances are when our focus is on God and our focus is on one another in the body of Christ. When we make our relationship with God and our relationship with people the most important priorities in our lives, we can have joy no matter what the circumstances are.

Paul says that he heard from Timothy a report about the faith of the Thessalonians and he says it was good news. In fact, he uses the word in the Bible for the Gospel. He uses the word that's indicative of the news that Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead. He uses that same word, Gospel, good news, and uses it to describe the report that these brothers and friends in Christ were doing well spiritually. You see, it's good news to be connected to one another in the body of Christ.

It's good news to make people a priority in our lives. Relationships really matter. In fact, they matter more than anything else. When we come to the end of our lives, what will matter most is our relationship with God and our relationship with people. It can be our source of lasting and eternal joy. Right now, I don't know what your priorities might be, but I think God's Word is calling us to make God and make people our one-two priority in life.

That's why Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second that's like unto it is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Loving God and loving people are the two most important things in life. And they're the real source of joy, true joy, no matter what our circumstances might be. It all comes down to this: it's about relationships. The power and impact and influence of relationships.

When we make people and we make God our one-two priority in life, that's when we find joy. When our relationship with God and our relationship with people matter more than anything else, that's when we can have joy regardless of life's circumstances. Right now, God is calling us to love Him and to love people. God is calling us to put Him first into our life and put our relationships with people next to our relationship with Him.

Whatever else would compete for that priority in your life, you need to turn from there and turn to God and turn to His focus of putting people as a priority in your life in terms of seeking relationships, and seeking the kind of relationships that will exalt Jesus Christ, bless others, and bring you joy. If that's your heart's desire, I invite you to pray with me and acknowledge that desire to God.

Lord, I surrender to You and to Your priorities for my life. I want to put You as my first priority and I want to put my relationship with people as the next priority. I want to seek relationships, relationships that matter, relationships that exalt You, relationships that advance Your kingdom, relationships that bless people, and relationships that give me joy. Lord, I pray that You'd change my priorities, change my attitude so that I love You and I love people more than anything else. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Greg: We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or call us at 949-916-0250. On the internet, you will find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.