2014-01-31
Good Morning Dear Ones,
You’ll remember that we looked at the scars that were seen and unseen, as Paul bared his back to the Galatians. He spoke of his own suffering in 2 COR 11: 23-33 and in 2 COR 12: 7-9. I also shared some of my own, which don’t compare to what Paul went through, but do reveal what many of us carry. Many of these, like the hard core of fear and angst I carried until I was in my fifties against people speaking with a German accent, because they were carefully taught to me from the time of my childhood. I hadn’t separated ordinary people from Nazis. There are a million ways that children are cruel to each other in the school yards and other places, including heartless bullying that has been allowed to go on for years. Middle school is a trying time of life, a time in which some people have been abused and/or neglected physically, emotionally, and even sexually. Recently, a promising young freshman in college had his life brought to a sadly premature end in a hazing incident at his fraternity. His shocked friends will carry the scar of this senseless act for the rest of their lives. We can be sure that none of this pleased our Lord Jesus!
The question that arises is: how do we, as believers in Jesus Christ, deal with these hurts and others –some physically discernable and others not? In 2 COR 6: 4-10, Paul begins to share the Lord’s answer to this tough question. “Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in trouble, hardships, and distresses…in purity understanding, patience, kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and to the left, through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known yet regarded as unknown; dying and yet we live on; beaten and not yet killed; sorrowful and yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing and yet possessing everything.” This passage is rich in direction for us, and it involves a total paradigm shift from the way our natural emotions and attitudes direct us. Once again a man like Nelson Mandella gives us a great example of Christian attitudinal redirection. He was wrongfully imprisoned for speaking out about his belief that all people should be treated equally under human law. He had 27 years to fuel his anger and become bitter, but he allowed the Lord to lead him to recognize his country’s future depended on him learning forgiveness and valuing reconciliation. “Mandiba”, as first his tribe and later those who admired him came to call him, had his angry moments, but he didn’t let them swallow up his ability to look at the bigger picture. Nor should we should allow bitterness arising from our own personal scars keep us from the love of Christ and thinking in the eternal realm.
Another passage that gives us direction is found in 2 COR 4: 8-9, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” This is true strength, the kind that comes from the Lord and was displayed by Him. All of us share the same kind of sufferings and thus, must put them in eternal and realistic perspective. I keep returning to that same question that I believe the Lord keeps me asking: What will our legacy be after our physical death? It’s a question He wants each of us to be asking. It’s my desire to leave a legacy that will impact future generations to come to Lord for salvation, peace, and to be showered with His most excellent grace. I would like to be remembered for being a loving person, one whose life is witness to the beauty and blessings of accepting the Lord Jesus, my Yeshua, one who put her covenant relationship with Him and with others first. Maybe no one else will see my scars, but what matters is that the One Who created me does.
In ancient times, humans were branded the way cattle are branded by ranchers today. That’s how a person was known to be a soldier, temple worker, or slave. We are blessed that such an enforced practice was stopped, although in more modern times numbers were branded on Jews in concentration camps and street gangs foolishly set themselves apart with tattoos. It might surprise today’s young people to know that, in LV 19: 28b, we are told not to tattoo our bodies. The Lord knows many people in their 40’s and 50’s are having difficult and expensive procedures to remove these permanent marks from their bodies, the product of regret from their youth. The only way we became agents of the evil one is to allow it. We’ve already learned, EPH 1: 18-20, that we have been given the power to stop him from establishing a stronghold in our lives by our Lord Jesus-the same power that the Father used to raise Him from death to eternal life. We can accept the Lord’s guidance in accordance with PS 31: 3-5, “You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as You nave promised. Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care, You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God.” And what attitude should we model? These passages lend illumination. MT 20: 26-28, "If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest, and if one of you want to be first, he must be your slave—like the Son of Man, Who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life to redeem many people." PS 52: 8, "But I am like an olive tree growing in the Lord’s house, and I can count on His love forever and ever." COL 3: 17, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
PRAYER: O Lord, You have had much to say to us this morning, and we approach Your mighty throne with humility, reverence, and awe. It will take us time to assimilate all You have said, and we are grateful for the paradigm shift to eternal perspective that You give us. You have our attention, and we ask You to continue to reveal Your perspective, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to us. Moreover, we ask You for patience and compassion in putting these attitudes to action in our daily lives. Our faith is that PS 86: 15 is true. “But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” You have told us, in COL 3: 12-13, “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” We take these matters to heart and will treat this advice with the respect it deserves by trying to practice it in our lives. We know we can’t be successful without Your presence and intervention, advice and direction. You have always been here for us, and we are grateful and thank You for the love You show us. You are to be praised and thanked forever! In Christ’s holy name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The conclusion of this important segment of the Our Covenant will be in the next message. Then, we will move on to how our covenant friendship with the Lord and other believers impacts our emotions during our trials. With all the teaching in today’s message, there is one perspective we must not forget. The Scriptures have rightly been described as the Lord’s love letter to believers. His love for us is found throughout them, even in the hardest to read laws in Leviticus, seemingly harsh stories of the OT, and difficult didactics of the NT. These things are seen when we look at them in eternal perspective. Everything in the Scriptures is “God-breathed and useful in teaching, rebuking, correction, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped for every good work” [2 TIM 3: 16-17]. If we ask why this is so important to the Lord, our answer is in His mission statements [JN 6: 39-40 and EPH 1: 4-5]. Perhaps the greatest manifestation of the Lord’s love for us is His sacrifice on the cross [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. I’m aware that these things are mentioned in every devotion I write. They are germane to our understanding of God’s motives and eternal perspective. He wants us back to His side in heaven for eternity in His perfect time and way. Nothing matters more to Him, because of the love He feels for us. These verses light the darkness—1JN 4: 12, 19, “No one has ever seen God, but if love one another, God lives in us, and His love is made complete in us…We love because He first loved us!” Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 14: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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