2013-12-20
Good Morning Dear Ones,
One of life’s most painful experiences is feeling lonely and abandoned. We can’t know if that’s the way that the Lord Jesus felt when former followers deserted Him after He spoke about being the Bread of Life, but it’s sure possible. The problem: trouble with committing to beliefs that would make powerful changes in every aspect of people’s lives. Not really understanding what Christ was saying was the other problem. And then, there was what Christ knew about one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot [JN 6: 66-68]. Later, in 1 COR 2: 14, Paul would reveal the real crux of the problem. “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Even if these fair-weather friends ever knew Jeremiah’s prophecy of the “new covenant” from JER 31: 31-34, they certainly weren’t making the connection between this prophecy and its consummation shortly to come with Christ’s physical death on the cross.
Covenant words are words of life. The Lord would lay down His life for His friends, just as He has spoken in JN 15: 13. The Giver of Life was right there among them, and they never recognized His true identity! His covenant words were a love letter to anyone who decides to believe in Him…”I no longer call you servants, because a servant doesn‘t know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I have learned from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, I chose you and appointed you to bear fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask for in My name. This is My command-love each other” [JN 15: 15-17]. And lay down His life for His friends is exactly what Jesus did for us on the cross! [JN 3: 16: RO 3: 24-25].
We need to look at what these deserters miss. My own life isn’t finished yet, so the jury’s still out on me. But, I’m able to write about my own experience with loneliness and abandonment better than anyone else’s. You all know I’m the product of a dysfunctional childhood. Lots of people are, so I don’t write about this to look for sympathy. However, there are loneliness and abandonment issues to which many lost people can relate. It was necessary for me to support myself from the time I was age 15. This meant getting jobs before and after high school to make ends meet. I was raised at a time when women, especially teenaged ones, didn’t work, and there were not widespread fast food places yet at the time. I tutored other students, cut grass, delivered newspapers, and cooked/waited tables in a local hospital cafeteria to begin. Later, I worked in restaurant kitchens and spent one summer working doing whatever was needed in the Berkeley Radiation Lab, then dealing with sub-atomic research using a hydrogen bubble chamber. That’s what it took for me to complete undergraduate school and get a teaching certificate. Then, I discovered after teaching high school for a year and at university for another year, that I wasn’t happy. Something important was missing, and I was trying to discover what it was. An unhappy first marriage that lasted 15 years complicated my already complicated life. Finding that missing “thing” eluded me until I was age 25, and even then, it took time for me to understand my need to surrender to Christ emotionally and spiritually.
We have been told, in PS 9: 9-10, “The Lord is a Refuge for the oppressed, a Stronghold in times of trouble. Thos who know Your name will trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You.” Until I became conscious of Christ’s presence in my life, I felt a gnawing loneliness that seemed to have no relief. I was always on “fight or flight” mode, never being able to feel comfortable in my own skin. Today and for the rest of my life, I claim PS 40: 1-2, “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the quicksand and mire; He set my feet on a Rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and believe and put their trust in the Lord.” Learning that each of us is a loved child of God doesn’t always come easy to us, and certainly didn’t to me. I had to endure the opposition of family members who were raised, as traditionally Jewish people are, to reject Christ as the Messiah. I was told I was turning my back on my heritage. And indeed, any Messianic Jew appear to be doing this by their traditionally Jewish families. This is especially true of a person like me, who has lost a portion of her family in the Holocaust. The whole concept of being a “completed Jew” is totally foreign to them. I can’t help but think of other Messianic Jews who have lost their livelihoods and temple memberships, even in some cases their lives, because of their decision to embrace faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But, the words of the Lord in the Bible are true. He will never abandon anyone who seeks Him and has faith in the Son. Amidst such a controversy, Jeremiah’s words, in JER 29: 11-13, are forgotten by objectors. “For I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you not to bring disaster, plans to give you the future for which you hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” Those who deserted Christ totally forgot these expressions of love and devotion on God’s part. Jesus was able to comfort his genuine disciples with these words from JN 14: 10-11, “The words I say to you are not just My own. Rather, it is the Father living in Me, Who is doing His work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe in the evidence of the miracles themselves.” It is faith in Him that is a gift of the Holy Spirit and the way to inner peace. And yes, even people as hard to convince as I was can approach, in Christ, the throne of God with confidence and freedom! [EPH 3: 12].
PRAYER: O Lord, You design a series of challenges unique to each of us and for the purpose of strengthening and maturing us spiritually. Along the way, we discover talents that You built into us that we didn’t know we had. There are pain, loss, sorrow, and other difficulties along the path we must take, but in the end, we can have victory never foreseen by us. We have both an immediate purpose and a cosmic purpose, which are brought to fruition when we are faithful and obedient to You, when we rely on You. You are a loving and kind God, Who gives us guidance when we seek You out, who gives us better understanding of what You know we need to know. We are new creations when in union with Your Son, Jesus Christ [2 COR 5: 17]. COL 3: 9-10 helps us to understand what this “new self or new creation” really is. That is because You guide us to be honest with ourselves and You. It is also because every day You renew us in Your image, so that we may have a greater knowledge of You. Our obedience to You and faith in You leads us to eternal life, the net result of a successful covenant relationship with You. In such a relationship not one drop of Christ’s blood shed for us is wasted. None of this is possible without You, so we offer You our thanks and praise, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: This week, we looked at what happens when we belong to God forever in a covenant relationship that works. Next week, we will examine what a person who either rejects or deserts Christ misses. The most precious portion of my own life is my covenant relationship with God and with other believers in my Yeshua [Jesus Christ]. I can feel loved, needed, and never lonely, because my Lord Jesus has led me to a loving congregation of believers, has forged amazing friendships, has given me a long-term happy marriage, and has heaped all kinds of blessings on me that I never deserved. This is grace! There is nothing special about me. God has given me practice in paying attention to the blessings He has given me. All of us have blessings, but many people don’t know how to look for them or don’t take the time to do this. Of course we all have our trials and temptations. I’m not without these either. But when we turn to Him, He gives us the strength we need to work through them [EZRA 7: 28]. I’m reminded that we won’t have friends unless we know how to be a friend. I see that is achieving a balance between giving and taking in a relationship. It certainly involves genuinely caring about others, genuinely wanting to have that greater knowledge of God. God has said His mission is to bring us back to Him for eternity [JN 6: 39-40; EPH 1: 4-5]. We need to do all we can to cooperate with Him in that pursuit. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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