2011-02-04
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I’m led to continue writing about trusting God, how God obligates Himself to sinners. No discussion of this topic is complete without what we examined for the last two weeks, the Refiner’s fire. That’s the process of working through God-allowed challenges to strengthen our faith and learn to depend on His leadership and help. We must go back to RO 12: 1 to understand what kind of offerings the Lord wants from us. “So then, my brothers, because of God’s great mercy to us, I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer.” It’s not animal sacrifices that He demands of us. Now, we can look at MAL 3: 2-3 to understand the Refiner’s fire which takes place on the Day of Lord, [to happen at a time no one knows, except the Father Himself- MT 24: 36]. “But who will be able to endure the Day when He [Christ] comes? Who will be able to survive when He appears? He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal. He will come to judge like the one who refines and purifies silver and gold, so the Lord’s Messenger will purify the priests, so that they will bring to the Lord the right kind of offerings.”
Before moving on, I feel quite compelled to deal with a nagging issue in my own life and that of numerous other devout believers in Christ. We don’t know what happens to our relatives and friends who are brought up in traditional Judaism to reject Christ, but who are good and moral people during their earthly lives. I still won’t be able to answer that question the way I would like, only to speculate on it in an educated way. First and foremost, our God has stated in many places in the Scriptures that He wants to bring as many people back to Himself in heaven as possible, [JN 6: 39-40; EPH 1: 4-5; 2 PET 3: 9], for example. Repeatedly, we read Scriptures that speak about God’s mercy and love for His human creation. He is not a mean-spirited Deity, after all He chose us first [JN 15: 16], and He wants us to imitate Him by loving one another [JN 13: 34-35; JN 15: 17]. We feel comfort at the time of a believer’s physical death, because we know he is saved from spiritual death. But what about a traditional Jew who dies, one that you love??? God has helped me with this knotty question with RO 11: 25, “There is a secret truth, my brothers, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to the Lord.” How utterly intriguing for those of us who would love to know how the Father will bring this about! But, alas, He has decided that we won’t know until we ourselves get to heaven. Ahh, yes! Another motivation to keep our own spiritual houses in order arises. Once again, our Father is indirectly telling us to trust in Him and have faith that He will keep His promises. While not easy to do, it must be done!
Does this mean that we should hope for righteous traditional Jews to be eventually saved and given the peace that comes with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? I have to think it does. Does this mean that we must trust in the Lord’s ability to judge them with His customary wisdom, compassion, grace, and patience? I have to believe it does. Faith is defined as taking God at His word. We can’t forget HE 11: 1, “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.” Knowing Him well by daily time in the Scriptures, listening to Him in prayer, and observing His actions in our lives and those around us helps enormously to guide me to the opinions I have. We can all benefit from these approaches to knowing God better [2 TIM 3: 16-17; PS 86: 5, 7]. One of the reasons that it’s helpful to do an exegesis of Scriptures in the original Hebrew for the OT and Greek for the NT is learning what we can about God from the meanings of the names used for Him. These often depict either His attributes or His actions. That is, of course, not the only reason for such an approach to study. Greek, for example, is a much more precise language than English. That’s why it is helpful for us non-speakers to use a book like Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, which helps us to look up the precise meanings. When our emotions are engaged, as they are at the time of the physical death of a non-believing loved one, it’s important that we previously took the time to understand God’s will and to know Him.
The death of a loved one which is unexpected is even harder. Sometimes I deal with this problem on our church’s prayer chain or even in our congregation. Last year, we lost two children from the same family due to a mysterious genetic disorder they both had. These children were too young to have professed their faith in the Lord Jesus, but thankfully, they were both baptized. Their baptism didn’t save them, but I believe our compassionate Lord surely did in a way to which we are not privy. I believe that when God chooses the time to call their parents home, they will be reunited with these two little girls in heaven, as long as these parents endure in their faith. Our covenant-relationship with the Lord Jesus may not give us all the answers, but it allows us to deal effectively with some pretty hard issues in our earthly experience. I pray that God’s power to give inner peace to true believers gives each person who reads this devotion great comfort in difficult times. Let me conclude with PS 62: 5, “Only God gives inner peace, and I depend on Him.”
PRAYER: O Lord, You are a generous and loving God. We know this from our observations of Your actions and attributes revealed. In GN 22, You commanded Abraham to place his son of the promise, Isaac, on the altar of sacrifice. This was a test of Abraham’s faith, and at the last minute, You provided a ram as a substitute sacrifice, thus saving this young boy’s physical life. This was followed by Your promise that You would bless Abraham’s descendants. GN 22: 18, “All the nations will ask Me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants-all because you obeyed My command.” This whole incident foreshadows Your own sacrifice, which is of enormous importance to all of us. RO 8: 30-32 helps us to understand Your heart. “And so those whom God set apart, He called and those He called, He put right with Himself, and He shared His glory with them. In view of this, what can we say? If God is for us, who can be against us? Certainly not God, Who did not even keep back His own Son, and offered Him for us all! If He gave us His Son-will He not also freely give us all things?” We are reminded that we became believers when You, Dearest Abba, chose us first and transformed us inwardly by the complete renewal of our mind [JN 15: 16; RO 12: 2]. You not only made Your covenant promises, but You brought us into a covenant relationship with You. We are blessed beyond any measure that You love us this much. We feel strongly that You deserve our best in keeping our end of the Covenant of Grace. Nothing in our lives is more worth it. We pledge our strong, abiding faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank and praise You for all the love and care You continue to give us. In the holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: There has been a lot to say about covenants- these two-way and uneven promises, that give rise to a unique relationship with God. I say “uneven,” because God is so much more righteous and powerful than we are. This covenant relationship with Him leads to ones with Him and other people, like the one between David and Jonathan [1 SAM 18: 1-3]. While our relationship with Him will never be even, it can net us tremendous comfort, fulfillment, and satisfaction. It also can lead us to a blissful eternal life with Him when the time for our physical lives is over-a decision only God has the right to make. Next week, we will look at some of the comments made early in the Scriptures about the issue of covenant relationships. God knows we are challenged in tough ways. Yet He tells us, in IS 41: 13, “I am the Lord, your God; I strengthen you and tell you, ‘Do not be afraid; I will help you.’” His encouragement is revealed. He hears our pleas for hope. RO 15 :13, “May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” His ability to give us hope in adversity is revealed. He comforts us. 2 COR 1: 3-4, “Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, Who comforts us in our troubles.” His will to be compassionate and comforting is revealed. He keeps His watch over us. PS 145: 18-20a, “ The Lord is hear to all who call upon Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of all who have reverence for Him; He hears their cries and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him.” His proximity is real, as His caring love for us is revealed. These are only a few of His many wonderful attributes. It’s worth a lifetime of study, prayer, and putting His teaching into practice in our covenant relationships with Him and other people in our lives. He is worth it! Praise and thanks be to Him forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15