2011-01-07
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We’ve been examining questions that need to be answered individually in an effort to see if we really trust in God. We have been asking: Do we give God a chance? Do we believe God exists? Do we believe more in human or godly understanding? And today, we will look at: When will we come to faith, and do we fear death? The first part of this double question deals with our own timing in actually coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Many people in my own congregation have said, “I was raised in a Christian family. It’s all I know; I can’t tell you when I personally came to faith, just know I did.” Some others, like myself, can pin point the time they came to faith. A dear friend said, “I can to faith when I was five years old, because of what our parents taught us children.” Of course, you know that this author came to faith somewhere between the ages of 25-27 years, because that is when the Lord awakened me to His presence in my life. My faith has been sorely tested at times since then, and I believe it’s real because it has only been strengthened by these challenges. And then, there are others who wait to commit to the Lord until close to their own physical deaths. One such man had spent his life in traditional Judaism which rejects Christ’s deity, then found himself hospitalized in Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He was given the blessing of being in the same room with my friend Neil Lash, the leader of Temple Aron HaKodesh in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, a Messianic Jewish congregation. Neil had surgery a day beforehand and was recuperating. These two men talked, and Neil witnessed to the old man of what had brought him to faith in the Lord. Within three days of his own physical death, the old man repented and came to faith in the Lord Yeshua. Even at that late time in his earthly life, he was saved! And yes, it is only due to the Holy Spirit that any of us come to faith.
The second question: Do you fear death? can be answered by looking at some Scriptures that help us to grapple with it. HE 2: 14-15, “ Since the children, as He calls them, are people of flesh and blood, Jesus Himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through His death He mighty destroy the devil, who has the power over death, and in this way set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.” The fear [terror] of anything gives it power over us that isn’t right or that isn’t deserved. Let me skip to HE 4: 15 and then return to HE 2. “Our High Priest is not One Who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest Who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.” When Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane and was troubled by His disciples falling asleep and was praying the night before His arrest, He uttered, in LK 22: 42, “Father, if You will take this cup of suffering away from Me. Not my will, however, but Your will be done.” Right after that in (43), “An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.” If such a thing happened to the Lord Jesus, then, why shouldn’t it happen to us in our time of transition from earth to heaven? Now returning to HE 2: 16, “For it is clear that it is not the angels that He [the Father] helps. Instead, as the Scripture says, ‘He helps the descendants of Abraham.’” If you are a Gentile believer, it means that you have been “grafted in” to the olive tree, as described in RO 11: 16-24 and are thus, considered included this group.
We are further given MT 24: 36 which carries in it an important message for all who believe. You already have read me often reminding us that coming to faith is only the first step. Once this is done, we must live “in Christ,” thus trusting and following God, His word and His commands. “No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come [referring to Christ’s second coming]-neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, the Father alone knows.” I can’t say it enough, just how important this is to us. It’s our message, no, command that we must be ready for that time, “when the Lord comes like a thief in the night” [1 THESS 5: 2]. It is also the most important point of the parable, which Christ tells us, of the ten virgins [MT 25: 1-13]. When God says something more than once, it’s time to sit up and listen, then take action. Those like myself who are late-comers will have that much less time to get our spiritual houses in order. Does this mean be perfect? Of course not! What it means is that we need to be the best that we can be. We need to listen for the Lord’s commands and obey them, even if they are not at a time convenient for us or take us outside of our comfort zones. God never gives us a command that doesn’t have a good, righteous reason behind it that is in our best eternal interests. In my own case, I had to learn to think in terms of eternity, rather than the end of my physical life on earth. It’s a true paradigm shift of huge proportions for me, as I tend to be so tied to the time clock and with such a Type A approach to life. But God created me, just as He did each of you, with the ability to make this adjustment. It may be difficult, but it can be done! I find I keep going back to MT 6: 19-21, “Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are.”
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne with heads bowed in reverence to You. You have told us, in MT 7: 13-14, that there is “a narrow gate to a hard road” that we must pass through that will lead us to eternal life. We choose to take this path, because we now understand how important to us that eternal life is. We pledge to cooperate with You in Your efforts to perfect and purify us spiritually and in every way. We open our hearts to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and listen for Your commands. We pledge to use our talents that You gave us to serve You in the ways You desire. Slavery to human orders is debilitating to one’s spirit, whist slavery to the righteousness You teach us strengthens and enlivens us. You have shown us how much You love us, as described in RO 5: 8-11. “But God has shown us how much He loves us-it was while were still sinners that Christ died for us! By His death we are now put right with God; how much more then, will we be saved by Him from God’s anger! We were God’s enemies, but He made us His friends through the death of His Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has now made us God’s friends.” We, who believe in Christ, are later described, in RO 6: 11, “In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.” These are great gifts that we are given just for repenting of our sin and coming to faith in the Lord. While the latter isn’t easy, and the hard road we must take is not easy, both are worth the reward that awaits us. You are to be eternally thanked and praised for all that You do and all that You are. We express these sentiments in the holy and mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Messiah and Savior. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The next question in our examination of Do we trust God? is: Do we give Christ a chance? Impatience is the work of the devil, and like you, I’m sorely tempted to give in to it at times. We need to remember that our problems took time to be formed and become well-worn habits. God and the Son must be given the time needed to unravel the messes we’ve made, or better said, to help us step by step to solve our problems. I have spoken with others whom I cherish who face a problem similar to the one I had with my health in ’06. I was told I had ovarian cancer, and my abdomen had swelled to the point that I looked like I was ready to give birth to triplets! At the age of 62, that would have been some feat! J In any event, I put this problem on the shoulders of the Lord Yeshua in a way I had never done before. Another friend was facing the possibility of cancer surgery at the same time, and he and I spoke at length about how we felt. He too, had put his problem on the Lord’s shoulders. God took care of both of us by protecting us from facing our situations without fear, but instead, with inner peace. I underwent 5 ½ hours of surgery and tests were done on the tumor and fluid that was removed. No cancer! Talk about a gift from God! As for my friend, he too, got the results back from his tests. No cancer and no further medical intervention needed! I tell you this, because these are not isolated incidents. I leave you with this comforting command, from PS 27 :13-14, “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.” This assurance is here for anyone who chooses to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24 :15