2015-03-13
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The other day I was on the chat line for which I work answering questions that seekers have about the Lord Jesus and witnessing to my faith. One seeker wanted me to give the perspective on God’s power to bring blessings to believers, and I explained that it was He Who taught me to consider my life in eternal (rather than only earthly) perspective. PS 27: 4-5, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a Rock.” If this sounds like a flight of the imagination, or at the very least, otherworldly, then so be it. I’m not the author of these words; David is, inspired by the Lord Himself. He understood what I now do—that God at the center of our lives is the most important feature of them, the feature that pushes us on to Kingdom work and Kingdom peace. I can’t say that my seeker truly understood what I was trying to say, but I surely gave him something to consider. Opening his home to Mephibosheth and 35 others from his household was definitely keeping the covenant David had made years before with Jonathan. It’s hard not to respect the goodness of it.
Awhile back I said that meaningful and righteous covenants give one’s life purpose and texture. They bring friends together, often even closer than genetic family members. ECCL 4: 9-10, “Two are better than one. When one falls, his friend helps him up.” God knows that has happened in my life. The darkness of my past from dysfunctional family issues, a disastrous first marriage, and trouble breaking the law due to unbridled anger all led me to pain and misery, to self-loathing and feeling hopeless. PR 27: 17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” 1 PET 2: 9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him, Who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” At the height of my own misery, I might have laughed at reading these citations. That’s how cynical my years of unhappiness had made me. That is until the Lord Jesus made His presence in my life known. I was familiar with the Old Testament, but hadn’t yet read the New Testament.
A friend, who is married medical doctor with ten children, had garnered my respect. I still can’t imagine how he and his wife managed to raise them all to be believers and to have good, productive lives. Since I was a trained scientist, I asked him how a person can believe in science and still have faith in God. Some people close to me had tried to convince me that faith in Jesus is “an emotional crutch” to get us through the trials of our lives. Others had said, “God doesn’t exist, except in people’s imaginations.” Still others had told me I should be guilty for not obeying God to the letter of the law all my life. What gigantic confusion reigned in my mind after all this input! My friend, the doctor, sat me down and told me for the first time in my life about thinking in eternal terms, about God’s supernatural power, and about His love for me. I was astounded, because I couldn’t think of myself as being lovable. This is a tough place to find oneself in during my late twenties. His explanation went as follows, “Science sits in the lap of religion. Science deals only with things on earth, but religion deals with both tangible and intangible things that are anywhere at any time. They co-exist.”
That was the beginning, and it lead to me in the years immediately ensuing to reading the New Testament, discovering the continuities and consistency of both parts of God’s word, and slow recognition that God has had me personally (and everyone else He loves) in His magnificent sights from the time even before I was born. EPH 2: 8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that 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.” These truths did what they were designed by God to do, i.e. they transformed my thinking by the complete renewal of my mind [RO 12: 2]. Coupled with Christ’s Atonement and my dawining faith in this, my cynicism began to melt away [JN 3:16: RO 3: 24-25]. The only conclusion I can draw from all of this is that God wanted me to have a sharp contrast between what my life was like before I was aware of Him and what is it now. 2 SAM 22: 29- 31, “You are my Lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light. With Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a Shield for all who take refuge in Him.” No emotional crutch this, just the truth as I experience it in my life!
PRAYER: O Lord, You give us hope, including the hope of the resurrection. We are grateful and bow our heads while raising our hands in awe and reverence toward You. Our offer of utmost praise and thanks is not an action/reaction, but instead, an expression of our willingness to submit to Your greater wisdom and the eternal perspective You have given us. We are grateful for all You are and all You do for us. That is why we no longer fear death and are leaning to trust You. PS 62: 7-8, “My salvation and my honor depend on God. He is my mighty Rock, my Refuge. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our Refuge.” In the Great Commission of MT 28: 19-20, You have commanded us to share the Gospel message and our faith in it with others. I believe this is one way that we can demonstrate our usefulness to You. COL 4: 5-6, “Be wise in the way you are toward outsiders. Make the most out of every opportunity. Let your conversations be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” To obey this verse is not always made easy by every non-believer one is with, but it must be handled with the same grace You gave us when we had not yet come to faith. We must remember that doubts are one of the evil one’s favorite tools, but that You gave us the power to fend off his efforts to build a stronghold in us, as described in EPH 1: 18-20. Yes, Lord, it is the same power that the Father used to raise You from death to eternal life! How can we not be more than grateful for Your presence and love in our lives? We appeal to You for wisdom, compassion, and patience. We ask and submit to Your guidance through the trials of our lives and the tasks we do to build Your Kingdom on earth. Thank You and may You always be blessed as you bless us. Praise You, and may You always be praised to the glory of God! It is in Your name, Dear Jesus, that we say these prayers. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will ask and attempt to answer the question: How secure can we be as we feast at the King’s table? In looking at the question, we will observe some rather amazing examples from the word of God. In the meanwhile, let me say that I’m not the only one, by far, who has found himself brought out of the darkness and into the Lord’s light. So, I can’t claim I’m special in any way. My being Jewish may have had something to do with the Lord’s patience with me, but He has demonstrated patience for all He calls to faith. 2 PET 3: 9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting any one to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” The citations above and my own personal experience prove that 1) the word of God is truth; 2) God loves us enough to be patient, waiting reasonable amounts of time for us to come to faith; 3) His sacrificial giving of His own life on the cross is the quintessential act of obedience to the Father and demonstrates He and the Father both want us to be saved; 4) God loves every one of His human creation, even through so many of them disappoint Him; 5) Every person who comes to faith and lives in Christ pleases the Father. If there was ever any question about Christ and the Father being two personalities of the same Being, let it be answered forever by JN 10: 30 and JN 14: 9, 11. So we can trust in God with full freedom and confidence. As for the Holy Spirit, His love and guidance is here for us who believe in the Lord Jesus, 24/7. The Holy Spirit is that third personality of God, Who also is obediently serving Him for us for all time and eternity. So, if you join me in believing in Jesus, then consider yourself a blessed person. 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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