2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Yesterday I wrote about the church’s place in God’s plan. Today, we will focus on that of Jesus Christ. I think it’s rather amazing that Satan knows what his fate is, even more than we know about our own unless we have solid faith in God’s plan. This is evident from REV 12: 12, “And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows he has only a little time left.” God never allows anything without His righteous purpose. Not one single entity, not even Satan himself, can or will thwart God from carrying out his plan. We can learn something about this from Job’s prayer of a suffering man found in JOB 38. JOB 38: 4-6, 13-15, & 19-22, “I am drowning in the flood of my sins; they are a burden too heavy to bear. Because I have been foolish, my sores stink and rot. I am bent over, I am crushed…I am like a deaf man and cannot hear, like a dumb man and cannot speak. I am like a man who does not answer, because he cannot hear. But I trust in You, O Lord; and You, O Sovereign Lord, will answer me…My enemies are healthy and strong; there are many who hate me for no reason. Those who pay back evil for good are against me because I try to do right. Do not abandon me, O Lord; do not stay away, my God! Help me now, O Lord my Savior!”
Our emotions are surely brought to the surface by these powerful pleas. We must not miss the utter humility and acknowledgment of God’s sole ability to answer them that is in them. Job’s trust in the Lord is well placed, just as our own is. He never loses sight of that throughout his time of pain, even through he does utter some angry words during it. He knows as we should from where our help comes. He also knows God’s power to overcome Satan in His own way on His own schedule. God’s time is that which will exact the greatest impact of His lessons on us and get the greatest amount of His work done. IS 55: 8-9 help explain why we have such a hard time always understanding that and waiting for God’s time. “’My thoughts,’ says the Lord, ‘are not like yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways and thoughts above yours.’”
Christ, under God’s authority, will overcome the spiritual rulers and powers. He will hand over the Kingdom to the Father. I testify to you today that the prophecy of the events of the book of Revelation will come true. Paul knew this too. 1 COR 15: 24, “Then the end will come; Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers and will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father.” That is the same message that John writes in REV 5: 4-5, which I cited yesterday.
God’s plan for Christ to be there for us is already in place. Let me share an example from a person who came to me for counseling many years ago. A 15-yr. old girl was pregnant by incest. What a great tragedy this was. Her father had been engaging her for his sexual pleasure from the time she was eight. She didn’t know until later that her mentally ill mother was aware of what was going on. When her condition became obvious, she finally confided what had happened to bring it about with her high school counselor. This story has an amazingly happy ending, an ending which I believe only Christ could have made so. The girl went on to have her baby and to give it up for adoption. In the process of working with me, the Holy Spirit called her to faith in Christ, and she answered, “yes.” Her father was arrested and placed in jail, and her mother was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment. This young lady was placed in her aunt’s home and went on to finish college and go on to graduate school to earn an advanced degree in psychology. She is now a successful, competent practicing psychologist in CA and a faithful Christian. I know that not every story ends during our mortal lives like that of Job or this girl, but we can certainly be equipped to endure the pain that Satan sends us when we remain strong in our faith in the Lord. However, the final outcome for every believer who endures in faith is eternal life. Of that, I am sure! That is because we have Christ to offer us salvation through His death and our faith in Him, our Kinsman-Redeemer to plead for us.
Christ’s function in God’s plan is to be Jehovah Raapha, the Lord Who heals too. We know this from Jeremiah’s plea to the Lord for help in JER 17: 14, “Lord, heal me and I will be completely well; rescue me and I will be perfectly safe. You are the One I praise! That is why we are allowed to see Christ healing so many people in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John during his public ministry. Christ is the Great Physician Who has come to heal bodies and souls. MK 2: 17, “Jesus heard them and answered. People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. I have not come to call respectable people, but outcasts.” The original sin made us all outcasts until we came to faith in Him. Christ is here for all of us. Hallelujah!
PRAYER: O Lord, we are so blessed that we can turn to You when we need help. You, as our Covenant Partner, have pledged us Your protection in return for our endurance in obedient faith. David’s words in PS 3: 3-5 begin to express what is in our hearts. “But You, O Lord, are always my Shield from danger; You give me victory and restore my courage. I call to the Lord for help and from His sacred hill He answers me. I lie down and sleep, and all night long the Lord protects me.” PS 6: 8b-9 is a reminder to us of the power You have to come to our aid. “The Lord hears my weeping; He listens to my cry for help and will answer my prayer.” We can have comfort from knowing You keep Your promises. PS 12: 6, “The promises of the Lord can be trusted; they are as genuine as silver refined seven times in the furnace.” You know the content of our hearts better that we do. PS 44: 20, “If we had stopped worshipping our God and prayed to a foreign god, You would surely have discovered it, because You know our secret thoughts.” PS 46: 1, God is our Refuge and our Strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” Dearest Abba, we offer You thanks for granting us these blessings and the comfort in times of challenge that they bring. Just as You are always there for us, we want You to know that You can count on us too. We need You to lead us, and pledge to listen to Your direction. We pray for good health, spiritual nourishment, and Your wisdom to deal with Satan’s arrows and our own inherent foolishness. Satan will not win us over, because we will remain trusting and obedient to You. You alone can protect us from His snares, as David tells us in PS 31: 3-5. Today, we confess our sins, and in humility, offer You our adoration, worship, glory, honor, diligence, loyalty, obedience, trust, gratitude, and utmost praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to discuss Christ’s role in buying us out of the marketplace of slavery to sin. This will lead in to a more complete discussion of the part of God’s plan in which Christ acts as our Kinsman-Redeemer. Each day that I write these messages to you, I am ever more acutely aware of two salient truths. 1) God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are blessing us in countless ways as an expression of God’s love for each of us. It’s a real spiritual adventure that He takes us on as we uncover the ways we are blessed by Him, just because we are His children. 2) The other truth is that the time is drawing ever nearer to when Christ will call us to a meeting in the air with Him, and Satan and his followers will be sent to the lake of fire and sulfur. That is sufficient reason for us to acknowledge God’s love, to live “in Christ” getting sin out of our lives, and to rejoice in the knowledge that we will spend eternity in joy and fellowship with Him. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn