2014-02-28
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We must remember some important truths. From the time we were “adopted” into the family of God, we were given some important perks. The most important one is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is He Who informs us that we have a choice not to sin when tempted, and that it no longer necessary for our lives to end in spiritual death [RO 6: 6]. It is through Christ that we have the power to battle to victory, in His name, against the evil one-the same power that the Father used to raise Christ from death to eternal life [EPH 1: 18-20]. As believers in Christ, we committed to a covenant relationship with our Lord, one that would never be forgotten by Him [EX 2: 23-25; JN 3: 16: RO 3: 24-25; REV 5: 6]. With all of this in mind, we should be willing to hold up our end of the covenant, since covenant partners share the same agenda, the same enemies, and hopefully, the same eternal perspective on their sweet fellowship with the Father. We are even told that when we appear with our Lord Jesus after having our lives hidden with His, we will share in His glory [COL 3: 3-4]. REV 5: 6 reveals the Lamb upon the throne bears the scars from being slain, scars He acquired in the work of redeeming those people willing to believe in Him and to repent of their sins.
In the part of the country where I live, there are many people who push down their emotions, hoping to hide them from others. I was raised to do this too. But emotions are a part of our lives; we were created with them for God’s purposes. I’m not suggesting we should throw tact to the winds, but there are some honest emotions which are better conveyed than hidden. The Lord Jesus was known to show His emotions when He expressed anger and knocked over the tables of the moneychangers in front of the temple [LK 19: 45-46] and when He wept with compassion at his friend, Mary’s grieving over her brother, Lazarus [JN 11: 33]. Paul showed us great emotion in RO 1: 1, 16 when he said, “I am a servant of Jesus Christ…I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” Later, in EPH 2: 8-9, we can feel an emotional reaction to human hypocrisy behind these words: “For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith—this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
It is no accident that we have been given the ability to express a range of emotions. When we are going through trials, it is often because of our emotions that we let others know about them. I firmly believe that establishing Caring Bridge websites when faced with catastrophic illnesses is a balanced and healthy way to deal with the obvious emotions at such times. And that’s only one example. When we come to our trials, our Lord can relate well to what we are going through. HE 4: 15, “For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One Who was tempted in every way, just as we are—yet, was without sin.” It is during our trials, that we are most vulnerable to the fiery arrows shot by the adversary, but we do have the power to resist them. The apostle, James, urges us to do so in JAS 4: 7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” When Thomas doubted, our Lord Jesus countered it [JN 20: 27]. That was followed by our Covenant Partner uttering, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” [JN 20: 29].
Whatever trials we face, we mustn’t forget that our Lord Jesus is right here with us, sharing them. That is what a Covenant Partner does. We’ve always been able to depend on Him to be consistent in His caring and open about it. 1 PET 5: 6-7, “Humble yourselves , therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” We as His covenant partners owe Him the same caring and emotional energy that He gives us. Surely that means taking time out each day to acknowledge His presence and His intervention, His blessings given to us, and His satisfying, fulfilling companionship. And we mustn’t forget His provision, protection, and that great hope of the resurrection. The list of His goodness given to us is too long to be complete here, but if we look at our own individual lives, we will see His blessings in them. It’s okay to express honest emotion-even constructive anger at times. But never use our emotions to hurt another. He has told us never to do anything which would harm the faith of another. Remember RO 14: 7-8, “For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
PRAYER: O Lord, week after week we come to you, imperfect and with the capacity to sin. We confess our weaknesses and that we sometimes give in to temptations placed in our paths. And yet, You are always here for us, always willing to listen to our prayers. So, we bow our heads in reverent humility and say thank You for all that you do for us and all that You are. By Your example, You teach us to be better covenant partners. We thank and praise You for Your patience with and compassion toward us. We are working to expose and expunge the sins we still have in our lives, but can’t do this work effectively without Your help. So, we ask for it. There are times when our emotions run high, so high that we struggle to keep them under control. For the sake of tact and not hurting others, we recognize our need to be judicious in expressing them. But our emotions are real, and we appeal to You for Your wisdom about when and how we should express them. Our honesty is a real issue, and we need to keep it strong and intact. It’s too easy to allow our emotions to adversely affect our ability to make sound decisions and have right thoughts. So, Dearest Abba, we ask You for Your direction when we are amidst high emotion and at all times. Teach us to be patient, loving, and kind toward others when we are in pain. Show us when it’s time to speak up and when our mouths should be shut. We take great comfort in knowing that You will never abandon those who love You. HE 13: 5-6, “…God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’ So we may say in confidence, ‘The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” We offer You our heartfelt loyalty and our love. Your presence in our lives is like a warming living room fire on a cold, snowy day. We take Your advice, found in RO 13: 14, to heart. “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” For this and so much more, we thank and praise You forever, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit leads me to begin a new segment of this “Our Covenant” series of messages called “Covenant Friendship.” While being a friend opens us to being vulnerable, it can be the most satisfying and fulfilling relationship life has to offer. God has made us His friends [RO 5: 9-11] through our shared faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my husband and I are thousands of miles from any of our genetic relatives, we find ourselves never being alone for two reasons: our covenant relationship with the Lord Jesus and our covenant relationships with our dear friends and “mutually spiritually adopted” family from the community of believers around us. No one has to ever be alone, unless it is his choice. That statement might sound like I’m out on a limb, but I truly believe in its truth. We can reach out to others by serving the Lord through serving them. We can choose to be a part of a Christ-led congregation, and thus, will be brought into activities which the Holy Spirit directs. We know many single people who find fulfilling lives and wonderful support networks of friends this way. So, it isn’t necessary to be married to find this kind of shared love in our lives. As for our married friends, I can only wish that they had the kind of loving and caring marriage that Peter and I do. Our God has said, in ECCL 4: 9-10, “Two are better than one. If one falls down his friend can help him up.” It was appropriate that the subject of emotions during trials came up first, since it is our real friends that take the journey through big trials with us in prayer, leading us to study of His word, and listening to our concerns. Real friends remain with us through eternity. They love us and help us, as we would do the same for them. They are our covenant partners, just as permanently as the Lord is. We must remember that real friends are with us through our trials and victories, and we are obligated by our covenant to do the same for them. We were never meant to be isolated and alone. When we have faith in the Lord Jesus, He never abandons us, so we are never alone. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2014. All Rights Reserved.
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