Month: October 2023

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The Love of Jesus: 22-Oct-2023

10-22-23

Our church is called “Restoration”. It was derived from what I believe God’s purpose is for us, as the prophet Isaiah says. (Isaiah 58:9-12).

“Repairers of the breach and restorers of ruined dwellings.”

In Latin, true religion’s “re-ligio” taskis to rebind what is torn apart by bad temperament, ignorance, and institutionalized evil.

We are led and grounded by Jesus Christ, “in whom all things can be held together…and in whom all things are reconciled.” (Colossians 1:17,20)

Last week, I said that Jesus was able to heal and rebuild people’s lives because He cared for them, and through caring about them, He was able to take care of them. 

Matthew 22:37-39 – He’s asked about the greatest and most important commandment, to which he replied: “Love God” – totally – and to “Love one another in the same manner as we love ourselves.”

Later on (John 13:34), He amended this to “Love one another as I have loved you.”

John 13:35 – “By this, all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”

How we love defines our discipleship and relationship with Him.

In Tuesday’s Bible study, we read that love is not just theoretical; Love requires action.

A couple of weeks ago, I said:

“Our earthly actions (especially our religious ones) are only important in Kingdom matters when the primary motivation for them is love.”

I do think, however, that our understanding of Jesus’ love is sometimes skewed by our own needs and emotions.

I think maybe that’s why Jesus said, “A NEW commandment I give you… Love as I love.”

How did Jesus love? Let me share what I think.

  1. Jesus was attentive when He listened to people speak to Him – even His enemies!
    1. Because He was present in the moment, He could answer them thoughtfully and insightfully – with never a  “knee-jerk” response.
    1. Because He was locked into what they were really saying, He could offer hope and a pathway to wholeness by offering them TRUTH.
  2. He was patient with His disciples even when they totally missed the point.
  3. Caring Confrontation  – Jesus was confrontational, not passive.
    1. He challenged people to THINK before actingand act with love.
    1. Even when He confronted evil, it was with wisdom that had no malice.
  4. Generational thinking – He wanted the Kingdom of God expanded on earth, so He taught all who would listen to what the Father showed Him and imparted authority to His disciples even when they were obviously flawed.
    1. Example: Peter who denied Him 3x.
      Asks: “Do you agape me? – (Love Me unconditionally)
      Peter: “Yes, I philos you.” ( I love you as a friend)
    1. But, He took Peter’s incomplete understanding of love as a downpayment – knowing that the Holy Spirit would later come on him to transform his love.
    1. “If we give Jesus what we have at the moment, He will use it as if it were a complete and finished work.”  – PR
    1. He restored Peter and then gave him authority and responsibility for the church.
  5. Celebration
    1. Jesus celebrated people’s lives as gifts from God.
    1. He dismissed no one and saw all people as important.
    1. I think this is an area where we may need some improvement.
    1. We are impressed with people’s power, stature, wealth, charisma, looks, and accomplishments – to the point of overlooking and dismissing the flaws in their morality, civility, and basic decency.
    1. Jesus cared for the poor, sick, the lame (physically and emotionally), the old, and those who live on the margins of society. (the lepers)
    1. He cares for the “invisible masses who were seen as “throw-aways.”
    1. Jesus celebrated all lives and was grateful to God for them.
  6. Humor – I think it’s an injustice by the somber way Jesus has been portrayed.
    1. I believe that He possessed a great sense of humor and joy. Children saw Him this way.
    1. Many biblical scholars have noted the mirth of His answers within the context of the society He lived in.
    1. Elton Trueblood, Chaplin at Harvard Univ. – “Jesus approached people with joy – not heaviness.”
    1. Joy is the greatest evangelistic tool!
  7. Creativity – Jesus was sure to speak in the language of the people, avoiding the old stoic models, to explain spiritual principles.
    1. He used familiar contexts to have them see how spiritual principles were applicable to everyday life.
    1. His parables were improvisational stories of creative genius. They freed people to love by getting them to see and think “outside the box”  of religion. 
  8. Reverence – Certainly for the Father but also a deep respect for life, family, home, nature, women, and all people generally.
    1. He even used children as the proto-type of those who would enter heaven.
  9. Loyalty – Matthew 23:37 – We see Him weeping over the state of the people of Jerusalem – even as They were rejecting him.
  10. Forgiveness – He always taught and offered forgiveness and forbearance regardless of what people did.
    1. The ultimate example from the cross: “Father, forgive them…”
  11. Compassion – Jesus “cared” for people. 
    1. Care – (Kara) – to lament – to grieve – to sorrow for
    1. Compassion – to enter into a person’s sorrow with them.
    1. A different meaning than the one we use today – The strong toward the weak.
    1. We usually feel uncomfortable entering someone’s pain unless or until we feel we can DO something to relieve it.
    1. Jesus just did it. He could be present for all those who were suffering.

I’ve found that the most important people in my life are those who will stand with me – without knowing what to do – Those who will stand with me in my powerlessness.

This is a friend who cares in the true, Jesus sense of the word.

To ”care” means to be Present for each other and willing to say,” I don’t know what to say or do – I don’t understand – but I’m here with you.”


“A friend is one who will stand in prayer with you as God transforms your pain.” – Mother Teresa.

There’s a lot of talk and teaching in the church that revolves around physical healing. People want the gift of healing and to be known as “Healers.” there’s nothing wrong with that.

I believe that God would have us first become “Carers”.

I think that’s because Curing without Caring would only feed our own narcissism and keep us preoccupied with quick changes.

It would make us unable to “enter in” and be present for one another.

We would stay distracted and impatient waiting for results, unwilling and unable to share each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2-12)— which is the meaning of compassion and is the true foundation of LOVE.

I believe:

  1. God would have an increase in the church’s capacity to care for one another. 
  2. To pray to be restored to His original vision.
  3. Become an expression of Jesus’ caring love and bring healing to others.

James 5:15-16(AMP) -” Confess to one another; your faults, your slips, your false steps, your offenses, and pray also for one another that YOU may be healed and restored to a spiritual tone of mind and heart. The earnest, heartfelt, and continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available, which is dynamic in its workings.”

Jesus could heal all who came to Him because He cared for all who came.

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A Friend of Jesus – 15-October-2023

Mother Teresa on prayer:

“Prayer is not asking.  Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and LISTENING to His voice in the depths of our hearts.  Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.”

In my times of silence, by necessity, I’ve been ALONE, and I’ll admit, sometimes feeling LONELY.

I think maybe this is the reason why people avoid silence.

But being alone and feeling lonely are two different things.

Being alone can allow us to enter into a peaceful solitude.

But loneliness is like an empty ache: A vague sense of not mattering or not belonging.

It feels lousy – it is sad and nostalgic.  It’s a longing to feel “at home” and in the peace of solitude.

Robert Frost: “Home is the place that when you go there, they have to let you in.

He was not just speaking of a physical abode but the web of relationships we build as we go through life.

We are “at home” when we are with people we know who care for us.

Caring was at the foundation of how Jesus took care of people.  He was there for them when they needed Him and cared for them in the way they needed Him to.

Jesus was willing to enter into their painful situations without knowing beforehand what to do. 

He was present for them as God transformed their pain.

He remains a friend who cares for us and one with whom we can feel “at home” and not be lonely.

A Friend – is a person you know, like, and trust, one you can be allied with in a struggle or cause.

Jesus is a friend like that.  How many would like to be Jesus’ friend?

He’d be an awesome friend to have, right?

Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The only way to have a friend is to be a friend.” 

Walter Winchell: “A real friend is one who walks IN when the rest of the world walks OUT.”

Lynn Wine: “A true friend is one who is there for you when he’d rather be anywhere else.”

True friends are there for you when you’re in crisis because that’s what’s needed.  True friends are there for you REGARDLESS the situation.

When there is a crisis in our lives, we’d want Jesus to be there for us – wouldn’t we?  When I know Jesus is there, it makes me feel a lot better.

John 15:15 – “I no longer call you servants – I call you friends.”

We might not feel that what He said relates to us.

I want to take a look at some of the people He chose to be His friends back in the day, OK?

Peter: – was a problematic guy who had “issues”:

  1. Proud
  2. Tempestuous
  3. Impetuous
  4. He denied his relationship with the Lord

Yet, Jesus called him to be the head of the church.

Picture this: You pull up to the church, and there’s a big brawl going on, and there are hundreds of soldiers fighting the church people.

Suddenly, a guy pulls out a large knife and cuts off another guy’s ear.  Then, you realize the guy with the knife is your PASTOR!

I’d like a friend who’d go to that kind of extreme to defend me.

I’d also like a friend who could put it back on.

Galatians 2:11-12 – Paul confronted Peter for being a man-pleaser, eating with the Gentiles only when the Jewish believers were not present.

Matthew 17:4 – Mt of Transfiguration – Jesus, Moses, and Elijah are having a conversation when Peter blurts out about building three shrines for them.

He spoke when he should have been listening: rude and disrespectful.

Character traits: proud, impetuous, had a temper, a man-pleaser, rude, spoke out of turn and was disrespectful, denied Jesus.

Thomas – Didn’t believe.  (John 20:19-25) Add “Disbelief to the list.”

John, the Apostle of love – One of the “Sons of Thunder” who wanted to call fire down on people and consume them just because they didn’t receive Jesus (dissed Him) (Luke 9:51-53)

What kind of spirit was he filled with?  The Spirit of Murder.  Imagine that!

Hey, this was a tough crowd Jesus chose to hang with.

Interesting: Jesus rebuked John and James but didn’t say.  “OK, you’re done.”

So, now you have a Pastor who cuts people’s ears off and church elders who literally want to kill people.

Now wait – Matthew 20:20 – These same guys want to be given a title in the church.  So, what do they do?  They bring their mother to ask for them.  THEY BROUGHT THEIR MOM!

I think Jesus withheld the title because He knew the kind of stuff they’d be in.

A friend will do that sometimes to ensure a good outcome.

Add: Murder spirit, Presumption, Sectarianism or bigotry (against Samaritans) 

Luke 8:1-3 – Speaks of the women who were traveling with Him being ”healed of evil spirits”.  Maybe prostitutes?

Mark 9:38 – John spoke up and said, “Teacher, we noticed someone was using your name to cast out demons, so we tried to stop him because he wasn’t of our group.”

“Hey, you!  Leave that demon in that person.  You can’t do that stuff – you don’t go to our church!”

This was quite a crowd Jesus was traveling with.

OK – so what’s my point in all this?

The point is:  none of these guys had “halos” at the start –  but despite all the flaws, He loved them.  Not just because He had to but because He WANTED to.

Mark 3:13-15(TPT) – ”Afterward, Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to Himself the men He wanted to be His close companions, so they went up to join Him.  He appointed the Twelve, whom He named Apostles.  He wanted them to be continually at His side as HIS FRIENDS, and so that He could send them out to preach and have authority to heal the sick and to cast out demons.”

He called – They came – He ordained them to preach, heal, and cast out demons.

It was a two-fold ordination, the first being: TO BE WITH HIM.

It didn’t matter that they were easily angered – unbelieving, had a murderous spirit – were arrogant or prideful, or were “mama’s- boys.”

It didn’t matter that other people were shaking their religious heads, saying, “Look at that crew of losers.  Man, what a crumby crowd!”

What matters is – He says, “These are the ones I want.”

The message today is – “YOU ARE WANTED BY THE LORD!.”

It’s good to hear me say that, I know, but to actually KNOW it would be even better, wouldn’t it?

My prayer today is as Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus:

Ephesians 3:17-18 – “…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, and length, and depth, and height, TO KNOW the love of Christ which passes knowledge, (so) that you may be filled with the fullness of the Lord.”

PM and I have been able to do what we have done over the last 27+ years:

  1. Because of the big bucks we get from the church, along with the incredible benefits package and 
  2. Because it’s been easy to do with no interpersonal conflicts to navigate 
  3. Because it’s easier than getting hung on a cross

Of course not – We can do it only because the Lord wants us to do it.

When you KNOW that God wants you to do something, a lot of the personal neurosis fades into the background.

Don’t listen to the voice of the enemy.  He wants to get you off balance and off focus.

Just remember that Jesus took a bunch of people with a lot of flaws and transformed them into a band of godly warriors that upended the world.

It doesn’t matter what’s said about you from the outside voices – it’s just chatter.

What matters is That you’ve got a friend in Jesus – A TRUE friend!

Revelation 2:17 – says the victorious will get a new name.

I want mine to be: “Friend of Jesus.”

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The Kingdom’s Benefits Package – 08-Oct-2023

by Pastor Roy Esposito

–Ps 103:1-2 – “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.Bless the Lord ,O my soul and forget not all His benefits.”

– They are easy to forget – aren’t they?

– In this post-modern society we live in, “truth” (small “t”) fluctuates constantly as it adjusts to our personal, societal, and political circumstances,

– This can cause instability, confusion, lack of peace, and to sometimes forget the “benefit package” God granted us when we received Jesus.

Ps 103: 3-5 – 1. Heals all our diseases 2. Saves us from the powers of darkness (fear, doubt, anxiety, discouragement, suspicion, etc.) and the destruction it brings 3. Surrounds us with His love and compassion 4. Brings Things into our lives that enable the vitality of our youth to be restored.

– This promise and many others in scripture are the “Superior Truths” that supersede the chaos of today. The caveat: Receive and Trust them

– Rom 12:2 (TPT)– Informs us to resist the temptations of the “inferior truths”:
– “Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think.”

– The Holy Spirit is the purveyor of “Superior Truth.”
His truth is based on the steadfast and invariable reality of the Kingdom of God.

– The Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of Truth” and His guidance is one of the benefits we are graced with when we receive Christ.

– By His guidance we can receive grace to become free from the constraints of the inferior truths.

– Col 1:13 – “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed (transferred) us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

– Darkness has POWER. – Power – (Grk) Exousia – Authority

– Jude 6 – tells us that Darkness is where the demonic powers (satan included) reside.

– Jesus has made it possible for us to live under a new and higher authority: The authority of the Kingdom of God.

– I was thinking of the pain people suffer in life – physical and emotional.

– I believe that it is a direct result of the “power of darkness.”

– Ps 147:3 (AMP) – “He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows].”

– This is a “Superior Truth.” which declares the authority of God’s kingdom to heal and restore what has been broken both physically (pains), and emotions (mentally).
– In the “kingdom” there is the authority (exousia) to exercise Dunamis- “Might” over the power of the darkness.

– So, I asked myself the question: “Now that I’ve been transferred, how do I fully receive and exercise the “exousia” -(authority) of the Kingdom and address the wounded with the “dunamis” – (might) of the kingdom?

– Answer: “Learn how to move in Superior Truth.”

– I was reminded of what Jesus said about coming to God as a child.
“Child-like” not “Childish”
– Child-like attributes: 1. Open to new adventures 2. Fearless
3. Inquisitiveness 4. Trusting

– One must be fearless enough to want to live from adventure to adventure – to experience new circumstances excited by the new possibilities they may bring – and never with the expectation of dread.

– A “child-like heart” is different from being “childish” b/c it mixes its fearlessness with complete devotion to seeking God’s guidance in all it does.

– The “Child-like heart”
Cherishes time alone with God –just to BE with Him
Studies the Word with Letico Divena – the Holy Spirit’s input
Experiential worship – release of self to the “Flow” of the spirit.
Inquisitiveness – Heb 11:6 “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” —
– How do we seek Him? By asking Him questions but never demanding answers.

– Matt 7:11 – “… the Father will give good gifts to those who ASK.”

– Inquiry is an essential part of diligently “seeking.” The more we seek Him – the more of Him we’ll find.

– Matt 7: 7-8 – “Ask – Seek – Knock and the door will be opened..”

– Doors – open INTO things.
In this instance, they will open into new revelations of the realities of the realm of the Holy Spirit where there is no pain, sickness, sorrow, fear, depression,anxiety, despair or death.

– This is the “Good News” of the Gospel: Jesus has made access to this realm available to all those who believe.

– He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the Kingdom of Light.

– Take note: This is an accessible reality – RIGHT NOW- (See: Matt 3:2, 4:17, 10:7) “The kingdom of God is at hand.”

– “At Hand” –(GRK) Eggiken – Jesus: “God’s rule is NOW and all that is involved with this occurrence is present – in action – and immediately available.”

– It seems clear that in Jesus’ day healing and the coming of God’s kingdom were not separate things.

– Luke 10:9 – He sent out the 70 – “Heal the sick and say to them, the Kingdom of God has come near to you.”
– Kingdom authority to heal is granted to those who are willing to receive and move in the kingdom’s truths carrying the message to others.

– Earthly (religious) actions are only relevant to the Kingdom, insofar as they are motivated by love and nothing else.

– Rom 14:17 – The Kingdom of God is not about religious rules, regulations (eating or drinking) or methodology – but

– Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit – and are part of the Kingdom’s benefit package.

– Isa 32:17 – “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness: quietness and assurance forever.”

– Righteousness – Speaks of our right standing with God. through Christ.

– Peace – Speaks of the quietness and assurance that are the bi-products of a harmonious relationship with God.

– Joy – Chara – Calmness and a sense of well-being as opposed to weepy and sorrowful

– So, it seems it would be advantageous to develop an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit.

– Eph 4:30 – Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit by willfully continuing in on-going sin.

– When we sin, the entrance to the Kingdom is blocked because our actions are inconsistent with the Kingdom’s righteousness.
–1Thess 5:19 – Don’t quench the Spirit. –” Don’t Stop the FLOW.”

– We can “stop the flow” by demanding to know, beforehand, where the Spirit is leading – thereby “Setting Boundaries” and limits on Him.

  • John 3:8 –The Spirit is like the wind – nobody knows where He will lead.

– Pre-set boundaries keep the Spirit from “blowing,” leaving us with what we already have.

– Note – (Matt 5:20, 18:3, John 3:5) Although the Kingdom is right now, it still needs to be entered.

– The entrance of the Kingdom must be sought.

– The entrance, however, will not be elusive to those whose primary quest is NOT just finding the Kingdom but finding GOD, Himself.

– Jer 29:13 – “And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

– It would seem that the greater the desire we have for Him – the easier to enter it will be.

– When finding Him is the primary objective of our lives, all the benefits of the Kingdom become easily accessible for us to use.

– Matt 6:33 “Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and all these things (every part of His benefit package) shall be added to you.”