September 6, 2015 repost

“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” (Luke 4:1) And so begins the story of the Temptation of Jesus. This is an absolutely rich teaching and there is a remarkable life lesson woven in the powerful words of the text. Note, it begins: “And Jesus, full of the Holy Ghost, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness ,… tempted by the devil.” And now dear ones, take note what the Holy Writ tells us thirteen verses later: “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee;…”

Do you see it? Jesus went into the wilderness full of the Spirit. He came out of the wilderness still in the Spirit. Jesus remained in the Spirit, no matter what happened. To stay in the Spirit was the real issue Jesus faced in the wilderness. The wilderness did not offer three different temptations as we might have thought. It offered one. A single temptation: in the shape of different problems, to be sure, but a single testing, nonetheless. The problems were in the area of His physical body (when He was hungry after a prolonged fast); in the area of His soul—His mind, emotions, will (in questions involving His work); and in the area of His Spirit (when He was offered a spiritual shortcut). For Jesus, the problems were all temptations. Each had a common denominator. Each tried, with its particular pressures, to lure Him away from the Spirit.

What does it mean to be “in the Spirit”? We must come to grips with this term. Paul says, we should “Walk in the Spirit”…(Galatians 5:16). John said that he was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day (Revelations 1:10). To be “in the Spirit” is to be in the flow of His vital life and power. To be “in the Spirit” is to become conscious, for a higher percentage of time, of God’s continuing presence in our lives. To be “in the Spirit” involves a quality of living, because the Fruit of the Spirit is growing: (Galatians 5:22, 23). To be “in the Spirit” is to exist in a different realm where blessings are not a surprise.

No wonder Satan wanted to seduce Jesus away from being “in the Spirit.” All of the temptations he threw at Jesus were aimed at that same goal. It is the ultimate goal of Satan to ensure we do not remain “in the Spirit.”

Be blessed as you “walk in the Spirit.”
Pastor J. Amos Jones

FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK (September 14, 2009 repost)

In the very recent past, the Friendship Church family has experienced the reality of death in a very personal way. Death, of whom the Bible declares is “the last enemy that shall be destroyed.” Dear Ones, it is comforting to know that Christ will reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. We then can join the Apostle Paul in declaring: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). God loves us with an everlasting love, as evidenced by how He will take a perishable, dishonorable, weak (and sinful) body – “a natural body” characterized by sin – and in the resurrection make it an imperishable, glorious, powerful body, fit to live eternally with Him. The reality is, in the midst of life, there is death. Therefore, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” (2 Cor. 1:3-4)

God! The source of our comfort, provides comfort for us that we may comfort others who are in trouble. Be blessed as we follow Him.

Pastor J. Amos Jones

The Broken Chain
By Ron Tranmer

We knew little that morning
that God was going to call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
in death we do the same.

It broke our hearts to lose you,
you did not go alone;
for part of us went with you
that day God called you home.

You left us peaceful memories,
your love is still our guide:
and though we cannot see you,
you are always at our side.

Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same;
but as God calls us one by one,
the chain will link again.