2013-09-20
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, we saw how God changes our disabilities into abilities. Sometimes this is because we are beginning to go into a direction that is not within His will; other times it’s because He wants us to discover strengths that we didn’t know are built into us by Him. The latter was certainly the case in my own life, when I discovered I can do many things sitting that others do while they stand. We also learned about our continuing need to depend on Him for support and direction. God has an immediate purpose for our lives that we often know and a cosmic purpose, that we are unlikely to know. Our cosmic purpose, if carried out, impacts the lives of others long after our physical death takes place. These won’t be carried out unless we are faithfully obedient to Him. Submitting to God brings many blessings. PS 31: 3-5, “Since You are my Rock and my Fortress, for the sake of Your name lead me and guide me. Free me from the snare that is set for me, for You are my Refuge. Into Your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O Lord, the God of truth.”
Today, I have been led by the Holy Spirit to write a new segment of this “Our Covenant” series called “He Strengthens Us.” We’ll begin by looking at ways that God does this, i.e. gives us some of His power. Remember the word “power” in Greek is “dunamis.” It’s an easy one to recall if we understand that the English word “dynamite” is derived from that word. Dynamite is powerful stuff! God’s power is even greater and when used as He directs, is far more constructive. EZRA 7: 28, “I have been strengthened, as the hand of God was upon me.”
Most of us are familiar with EPH 6: 10-18, which is about God’s armor. EPH 6: 12 helps us to know how the enemy’s dirty work is conveyed to us. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Furthermore, God gives us practical weapons to use in doing spiritual warfare with these evil forces. The elements of His full armor are: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and prayer. Each element given here is powerful and effective when exhibited with God’s direction. We must choose to submit to God, to follow His leadership. Out of that choice, we must decide to make it and act upon it, conforming to His agenda.
When we are acting on God’s agenda in His chosen time, we never are wasting time. Instead, we are using it to the greatest good for the greatest number. IS 40: 29, 31 comes to mind. “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak…But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” Time on earth is limited, and we often waste it, making unwise choices, getting into ill-advised relationships, or simply not taking advantage of opportunities given us. God weighs in on this with His advice, in EPH 5: 15-17. “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord will is.” If we look around us, the world and it’s evil ways are becoming more and more prevalent. We must have the wisdom (which we get from our Lord) to say, “no,” to this evil, no matter what form it takes; and say, “yes,” to the things which conform to God’s teaching.
Study of God’s word and prayer should be daily occurrences. If we make these things our priorities, we will want to go against the tide of evil which tries to rise everywhere in our lives. Put more simply: we must care about the same things that matter to God!
Our lives should be about furthering God’s Kingdom. This message was first given in an especially holy portion of the Hebrew OT texts, DT 6: 4-5, know as the “Shema.” It begins with, “Here, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One.” The rest is repeated in MK 12: 30, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” No attitude we have is an important to our lives as this one. If we obey and do this, every facet of our lives will be blessed by it. One part of that blessing is that God will impart a portion of His strength to us in the ways mentioned here. Imagine, He loves us enough to have given His Son, Yeshua, on the cross, so that we might be saved from the consequences of sin and given eternal life/forgiveness! [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 14-15]. And to think, all we have to do is to repent and believe in Him! So, Dear Ones, we really have no excuse for laziness or refusal to obey God’s commands. As our Lord Yeshua gives us a new command, we must consider its ramifications to our lives. JN 13: 34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
PRAYER: O Lord, as sinners in a fallen world, we come before You, with heads bowed in reverence, to seek Your guidance and to learn to use the strength that the Father gives us through You. Without this strength, we are weak and ineffectual. With it and guided by You, we can do Your will and build the Kingdom. REV 5: 12, “Worthy is the Lamb, Who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.” This seven-fold Doxology says it all. You have commanded us to love You and to obey Your teaching. We benefit tremendously when we spend daily time with the Scriptures and have an active prayer life. We learn to listen for You first and then to place our requests before You. This two-way communication guides us to deeds and attitudes which are useful in Kingdom-building. We acknowledge Your superior wisdom and omniscience. As the world becomes increasingly more evil, we must have attitudes and take action that goes against its grain; that is not easy for us. But You have created us to accept Your guidance and gain Your strength to endure the hardships necessary to reach the final goal. 2 TIM 1: 7, “For what the Spirit of God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us the power of love and self-discipline.” Your will shall stands over all. On behalf of us all, we pray HE 13: 20-21, “May the God of peace, Who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work within us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit directs me to write a segment that is a logical one to follow today’s. It is “Our Covenant Bond” and deals with a tough question: We all want unconditional love, but are we willing to give it to our God and to other people? In the meanwhile, we can take great comfort in knowing that our God does strengthen those who appeal to Him with the intent to obey His will. For our hearts to be able to accept this strength, we must rid them of the ugly thoughts and gossiping ways that are temptations from the adversary. This is one reason why we are asked to spend time daily with the Scriptures and in prayer. Anger, which is an honest human emotion, isn’t from the devil unless it is destructive anger. EPH 4: 26-27, “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are angry, and do not give the devil a stronghold.” Grudge-holding is destructive and arises from the sins of the flesh. If we remember those wonderful elements of God’s full armor mentioned above, we can begin to understand the strength to overcome the evil one that the Lord gives us. 2 COR 10: 3-5, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Know that each person who submits to God is one who is deeply loved, strengthened, and protected from being overcome by evil. Being on God’s team is the greatest blessing we can have on earth and in heaven. Praise, honor, glory, and thanks be to our God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives