2013-08-09
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week we delved into the meaning of the exchange of robe and belt that was a part of David’s covenant of friendship with Jonathan [1 SAM 18: 1-4]. The belt didn’t just hold up one’s pants, but symbolized a promise of protection for the other person and his family, that their enemies were the same, and a mutual exchange of responsibility for the other and his family. In their time, the belt held one’s arrows and his sword. In Roman times, it was worn with a breastplate for protection. Since God was present, He was a Party to this agreement.
Admitting to our weaknesses reveals God’s strength and power in our covenant relationship with Him. When I was so very ill back in ’06 that needed life-threatening surgery. God revealed Himself to me by leading me to 2 COR 12: 7-9. “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surprisingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torture me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” I already had pain from damaged nerves in both feet 24/7, so I had prayed to God to give me some answer to why I was so ill in addition to this. His answer was not only this passage, but also two crucial words for all of us, not just me. They were, “Trust Me!” There are times, and as they were prepping me for surgery was one of them, when this is hard to do. My Via de Cristo renewal group, son and daughter-in-law, a beloved pastor from our church, and my husband all stood around the gurney and prayed in Hebrew and in English, as they wheeled me into the operating theater. The previous day, forty friends and family had come to an anointing service for me, and God gave me the message to share that I was in a win/win situation. I was either going home to Him for my eternal reward in heaven, or I was being equipped to fight ovarian cancer (my diagnosis) with covenant strength and power. Five and one half hours later, the surgeon emerged to tell my family that I had made it through the operation and was in recovery. Test results were pending. Five days later with my Covenant Partner still on the job, we were told that I didn’t have cancer after all. Instead, a huge benign tumor had been removed. A third alternative to my win/win situation was that God wanted me to continue in ministry to Him and others, doing many things sitting down that others do standing. He wasn’t finished perfecting me yet! I was reminded, “Nothing is impossible for God” [MT 19: 26; MK 10: 27; LK 18: 27].
Just before Paul’s statements above, he speaks of boasting without anything to gain about having had visions and revelations from the Lord. In doing this he refers to himself as having been “caught up to the third heaven” fourteen years prior to this time but not knowing if it was “an in the body or out of the body experience.” The “third heaven” is a possible reference to a time temporarily in paradise. The “inexpressible things” he saw there, he was not permitted to relate. This experience afforded him no room for personal glorification [2 COR 12: 1-6]. In Paul’s own experience and certainly in mine, God’s grace is sufficient and His strength/power is revealed in human weaknesses. I find myself doing things, like writing weekly devotions, that I could only do with the intervention and guidance of the Holy Spirit. I truly believe that He (and not I) deserves all the credit. PS 115: 1, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness.”
And as for grace, a fact of our covenant relationship with God, it is power perfected in our weakness. We must remember that grace is unmerited favor, given as a gift to those who believe in the Lord Jesus. EPH 2: 8-10 is one of the most important passages germane to our basic understanding of the Scriptures. “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” It is in sinfulness mankind comes to God and hears the truth of Christ’s message of salvation and peace. When we decide to believe in the Lord Jesus, God then forgives us sins for eternity [1 JN 1: 9] , deems us acceptable to Himself [RO 4: 3], and grants us this unmerited favor. We are to be reminded that God chose us first, not the other way around [JN 15: 15-17]. His will is that as many of us as possible will follow this track to salvation. His joy and delight is that we should return to Him for a blissful eternity of sweet covenant fellowship with Him. Faithful obedience to Him once we have come to faith is God’s rightful expectation for us. In return, He gets the joy of blessing us while we bless others. Think about it. If we go back to GN 12: 2-3 (the Abrahamic covenant) and notice the wording of these verses, we will see God’s intent for all believers and not just Jewish ones. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
PRAYER: O Lord, we stand before You in awe and reverence for Your covenant strength and power. Your compassion and courage in teaching us the principle of this message—that our weaknesses reveal Your strength and power—leads us to say, “Thank You, for all You are and all You do.” [PS 95: 1-2]. We are grateful for Your presence and intervention in our lives. You are here for us, even when we reach forks in the road of our sanctification and must make decisions that are crucial to our forward progress. [PS 119: 11]. The adversary is powerful, but not as powerful as You are. [MT 4: 11; EPH 1: 18-20]. His plan is for our destruction; Yours is for our eternal life. We would be fools to give in to His temptations. Because of foolish pride, we sometimes have difficulty owning up to our weaknesses, yet You give us Paul’s example to show us how important to us doing this is. Despite an ordinary appearance, short stature, the lack of a commanding speaking voice, and a past filled with persecution of believers in Your Son, Jesus Christ [AC 26: 9-15; 1 TIM 1: 12-17], despite all of this, You gave Paul (through Your grace), things he needed to say and the courage to say them. You teach us through Paul’s painful affliction that his ministry was still not only possible but also tremendously effective long after his own physical death. Just as You were rejected before the cross, You are now accepted by us as our Lord-- anointed forever to bring us to salvation and peace with the Father [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. We pledge to make every attempt to be resolute in our obedient faithfulness, to serve You while we take care of the needs of others (showing the love You teach us), and to convey Your word and Your will to those who have not yet come to faith in Him. Once again, we offer You our heartfelt thanks and praise for Who You are and what You do for us. In Christ’s holy/mighty name we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am led to continue writing about “Covenant Strength and Power” as a segment of these “Our Covenant” messages. The issue of humility must be a part of this discussion, just as admitting our weaknesses is. We’ll see how a messenger of Satan [pain and affliction] becomes a tool God uses to reveal Himself. Our God is clever without slyness. He is empowering without evil. He is capable of giving us a total paradigm shift [change from our human perspective to His godly one, including a change in Who we worship and adore]. All of us have to go through one challenge or another. But He has built into us resilience and the ability to endure. It is through these challenges-- be they pain, disease, or others He allows [but doesn’t cause] ones designed specifically to forward our spiritual maturity—to perfect us in the sanctification process. Our part is to become more mature believers. His part is outlined in COL 3: 10 in which we are being “renewed in the knowledge in the image of God.” Yes, God is teaching us more about His attributes and deeds, and He is renewing us every day in His image. That is why He sees us as He sees His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Another way of putting this is found in COL 3: 3-4, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory.” We who believe can all be enormously grateful to our Lord, especially considering the alternative. Praise and thanks be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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