Episode 156: October 29, 2023 - As You Wish

Eternity Church PodCast

A Sunday sermon by Brett Deal. Have you ever met someone that you immediately resonated with? It can almost feel like your lives have been lived on parallel lines; you’ve been walking through the same experiences, shared the same thoughts and, all of a sudden, your paths branched toward each other and met at the perfect moment. We all have friends like that. Those people who might have been strangers a few weeks ago and now you can’t imagine your life without them, their wisdom, their insight, their friendship. I’m often reminded of C.S. Lewis words: “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” Arriving at 1 John 3.19-24 in our journey may be that moment of friendship convergence. In these verses, John, our spiritual guide looks on us and sees where we are in our walk with Jesus. He knows that as we open our hearts we will feel the sting of light on those dark places. For some, our hearts will be wracked with condemnation. Surely, each of us has felt our hearts go through times of self-condemnation as well as times of strong spiritual security. John speaks to us as God’s people in either season. If our hearts condemn, John reminds us that God is greater than our condemnation. If our hearts do not condemn us, he celebrates that we have confidence in God. In the Spirit, John encourages us to see ourselves more fully as God the Father sees us. He openly addresses our self-condemning hearts and illegitimate guilt for sins we’ve confessed, reminding us of Jesus’ forgiveness. He also charges us to take a selfless posture to the needs of others, the very position of opening our hearts which often sparks our feelings of guilt because we aren’t the full answer to their need. All of this repositions us on the Way with a Christ-centered confidence before the Father. Friend, too often our consciences get weighed down by our shortcomings, by our failed attempts or rash responses. If you find yourself in a season of self-doubt, find the joy of confession before the Father in the embrace of the Spirit through the brothers and sisters in Christ. Who knows, that stranger listening to you may be the dear friend you’ve been waiting to meet. As you share with them the dark cloud in your heart you may be surprised to hear them say, “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”