2015-03-20
Good Morning Dear Ones,
It occurs to me to ask: How secure can we be at the King’s table? I not only believe every word in the Bible is true, but I also believe that we can take God at His word. RO 8: 1, 28, and 38-39 give us the following reassurances: (1) “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”; (28) “In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose”; (38-39) nothing and no one can separate us from “the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” We can even find more compelling reassurance in 2 COR 4: 13-14, “It is written: ‘I believed, therefore have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the One Who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.” It’s a fact that important messages, even ones of encouragement, are often repeated in the Scriptures. It’s a signal that they matter to God and should be considered important to us, as well. COL 3: 3-4 is one that touches me deeply. “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory.”
Yes, it’s true that I filled that first paragraph with a lot of Scripture. It’s also true that if the Holy Spirit has not indwelt in a person’s soul, all of this will be meaningless. That too is stated clearly in the Bible, in 1 COR 2: 14, “A 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.” We need to hover over some of the points made in the first paragraph just a little longer. Faith leads to witnessing, if my own experience is a teacher. In this world of materialism, human cruelty, stupidity, and other kinds of sinning, we can expect constant changes. It’s been described as being like the wind that blows away dust and old leaves. The winds of change are always there, except for the timeless and consistent teaching from God found in the Scriptures. God defines truth in HE 4: 12-13, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than a double-edged sword, it penetrates even in dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered, laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account.” Our God simply doesn’t lie, and He misses nothing. If we are living “in Christ,” we have nothing to fear God is seeing.
Some people believe only in physical phenomena, so they deny feelings, beliefs, thoughts of anything that can’t be quantified. But our God teaches us that there are intangible phenomena, things like ethics, ideas, innovations, and the like that take the former people outside of their boxes to a place where they aren’t comfortable. When I say that faith leads to witnessing, it is from first-hand experience. God has taken me from the place in which I didn’t believe He existed, to the place where I first learned I was wrong. Then I learned His teaching through the impact it had on my life and others around me. I am now at the point where I feel a great responsibility to witness to my faith, in the hope that the Holy Spirit will bring such faith to those who don’t yet have it now. Of course, the thought of people not be saved is the motivator. The Great Commandment of MT 28: 19-20 is clear as can be, so that there can’t be any question about God’s will in this matter.
We are not only given encouragement in our faith, but we are taught how to live “in Christ.” Certainly this begins with the Ten Commandments [EX 20: 1-17]. But we are given even more specifics in the NT. We are warned against false teachers in 1 TIM 1: 1-11. Divisions and the cause for them in the church are discussed in 1 COR 1: 10-17 and 1 COR 3. Law suits are discussed in 1 COR 6: 1-11, and sexual immorality in 1 COR 6: 12-19. Avoiding temptation is discussed in 1 COR 10: 12-13. 2 COR 2: 5-11 takes up forgiving sinners. These examples are by far not the only places in the NT where God makes His will known regarding thoughts, attitudes, and behavior which befit a true believer in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Feeling discouraged at times is normal. When that feeling nears being overwhelming, we are to remember PS 40: 1-3, “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 mud 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 fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” As for God’s power, God interrupted the sun’s regular course on two occasions: The sun stood still for Joshua at Gibeon [JS 10: 13], and it went backward for Hezekiah when he prayed for an extension of his life [IS 38: 8]. With power like this, people, David and Mephibosheth, for example, could feel quite secure in God. We can too, when we live according to Christ’s teaching.
PRAYER: O Lord, Your power is so great that we are left mouths agape! Your wisdom is beyond our human understanding [IS 55: 8-9]. And yet, nothing that comes from You is evil. You are a God, Who has no evil in Him [1JN1: 5]. You teach us from the wisdom of Your mind and the love of Your heart. You make it Your mission to bring us to the Holy Spirit, Who can give us life-saving faith [JN 6: 39-40; EPH 1: 4-5]. Every day at any hour, we can come to You in freedom and confidence that You will hear our prayers [EPH 3: 12]. Yes Lord, there are times when You delay answering us, in order to bring us to the end of ourselves, or to teach us patience until the time for a reply is right (in the eternal sense). While Your power is great, and You always use it for good, we must remember we have a precious covenant relationship with You and should never forget to thank and praise You. We do so for not only what You do for us, but also for Who You are in our lives. The security You give us is not only because You can and will intervene in our lives, but it is also at Your invitation! We must remember that You called us first, reaching out to Your children. We must remember we are useless in salvation and unable to live righteously without You [JN 15: 5, 13-17]. MT 5: 3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” Today and every day, we should honor the Gospel and share it with as many unbelievers as will listen to us witness to our faith. You, by the example of Your Son, Jesus, have shown us what love is, and we should practice it. These are applications that are an outgrowth of our covenant relationship with You. We lift up our hands in reverent prayer today in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am led to retell the story of how God made the sun stand still in response to the events at Gibeon between the Israelites, the Ammonites, the Gibeonites, and God [JS 9-10]. The idea is for us to really appreciate God’s power and His lofty/righteous relationship with us as our Covenant Partner. All too often even people from humble means are changed for the worst by acquiring position, power, wealth, and prestige. God has all of these things and more, and He is still always-righteous, always good. This is one of the things that separates God and His human creation. While we are imperfect, He seeks to perfect us. While we are impure, He hopes to purify us from our sins. In both the OT and NT, people have asked, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He Who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how can we not also, along with Him, graciously give up all things?” [IS 41: 10, 13; IS 8: 10; RO 8: 31-32]. Yes, Dear Ones, I must repeat this reminder again—that Jesus died on the cross, so that all who believe in Him can have everlasting life [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. As we meet our challenges head on, as we wake up to even the subtle sins we still are committing, as we confess them with openness and honesty to the Lord, we can have the hope that one day our Covenant Partner will take us to His side in heaven for a blissful, eternal fellowship. That should give us freedom and comfort at the same time. We must remember that the truth is that one day the devil and all his dirty work will be vanquished. Our task is to remember the power to chase the devil off that our Lord Jesus has given us [EPH 1: 18-20] and our call to work to build His Kingdom. Our God deserves our forever praise and thanks!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2014. All Rights Reserved.
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