2019-02-15
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, our subject was Paul’s concerns for growing the church and warning people against false teaching. This week, the Lord led me to GA 4: 4-7, a gift God has for His children. It’s a reminder of what awaits all who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. “But when the right time finally came, God sent His own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might become God’s [adopted] children. To show that you are His children, God sent the Spirit, Who cries out, ‘Abba, Abba.’ So then, you are no longer a slave but a child. And since you are His child, God will give you all that He has for His children.” This is a clear reminder of the story of Abraham obeying God, in GN 22, at the time he was commanded to offer his only son of the promise, Isaac, on the altar. Unlike with any human, we must obey God at all times-even if it must be done blindly to the reason behind the command. We can trust that God has no evil in Him [1 JN 1: 5]. Just as the ram got stuck in the bushes and acted as an acceptable substitute for Isaac, so Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sake of our salvation. I have a calendar on my desk that reminds me, “Love is so great. Christ died for us; He lives for us.”
We don’t want to be slaves again and turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits. Paul, being human as he was, questioned himself. He asked himself, “Can it be that all my work for You is for naught?” I’m here to say, “not at all!” The church spread all over the known world at Paul’s time. However, much more of the world is known now. There are still large portions of it that have not accepted Christ as its Savior. That is why every Christian has a well-deserved obligation to study God’s word and do what he can to spread it. This is best done by example but is also done by spread the word orally. It’s necessary for us to live by God’s teaching and then to, with great sensitivity, witness to the truth of His teaching. I’m a person who is part of a family who are partly traditional Jews and partly LDS [Mormon]. I even have some Buddhists and some secular people in this family. We are all good but single-minded, who must get along by accepting their differences. The inner peace I have comes from the Lord. He is the One Who leads, not me. Understanding this truth has helped me to focus my concern on working on my own sinfulness rather than someone else’s.
In 1 TIM 4: 1-5, there is a prophecy that many people will fall away from the truth due to the influence of false teachers. I have seen these things happen in my lifetime, spreading over western Europe and North America. People have rejected the churches in favor of opting out of these meetings with God. Other things, like Sunday sports, materialism (shopping on the Lord’s day), and laziness replace church attendance and daily practice of the Lord’s teaching. First these people become secular; then, other belief systems take over their lives. There is no single solution to this problem. But the example, we as believers, set can be a good beginning. By living the Lord’s teaching and placing Him in the leadership of our lives, we are doing spiritual exercise. The latter is good for both this and the next life. Without it, there is no gaining eternal life [1 TIM 4: 5-8]. Any discussion of this subject would be incomplete without some mention of the power of prayer.
This discussion of prayer hits home. That is because I spent the first 30 years of my life without recognizing just how essential it is to a godly life. Frankly, I didn’t believe in it! It simply didn’t seem real to me. I was told all the stories of foxhole conversions as a child born during WW II to an Army physician and his wife. I grew up in the era of children learning to hear a siren and to pull down blackout shades in my bedroom. It was scary, and the danger was real. Later, I remembered observing that same fear in my cousins, newly in America from the air raid shelters in London. They would hear planes flying overhead when we were outside playing, and they would hide behind bushes shaking in fear. Our enemies didn’t believe in God or revere human life, even that of a child. Most especially, they hated Jews. Today, Nazis are gone, just as many enemies of Israel are gone. But one never forgets fear like that, even though we are all older adults now. That memory is a reminder to us of all that God has given us just for believing in Christ and confessing our sins. What a gift my cousins and I have, that we are all Jews who have accepted Christ as our Savior!
PRAYER: O Lord, as You teach us, in EPH 2: 8-10, You have had us in Your sight all our lives, even when we didn’t know it. Your love for us is so great that You gave Your only begotten Son on the cross, so that we might have the opportunity to be saved, have our sins eternally forgiven, and be justified [JN 3: 16; 1 JN 1: 9; RO 4: 3]. Your grace is nothing we deserved and yet, You freely extend it to us. We can’t take credit for anything good, because You were the One Who taught us goodness [PS 115: 1]. You are so generous that You not only are gracious, but You have also prepared the good deeds You want us to do. While only our faith in Christ grants us salvation, these good deeds that we are to do help us to be able to follow Your teaching. So, “faith without actions is dead,” as James says, in JAS 2: 17. I testify today that it is often difficult to obey You, especially when we are tempted to sin by thought, word, or deed. Obeying You means taking the high road, something that isn’t natural to us. And yet, when we do, we are victorious in You. We offer You thanks and praise for all You are and all You do for us. In Christ’s holy/mighty name we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I have been commanded to write more about prayer and about keeping our flesh under control next week. Each of these topics that the Holy Spirit gives me has surprises just around the next corner. Let’s see where this takes us in next week’s message. In the meanwhile, I realize the experiences shared in today’s message were mine, but each of you can look back over your own lives to see what kind of reminders to be godly our Lord has given you. I’m not special in any way; He gives these reminders to all of us. The real issue is if we pay attention to them and act on them or not. There are many false teachers and demonic people in our lives, present to deter us from godliness. These evildoers throw us off course and tempt us to put distance between ourselves and God. Each of us must ask: How strong am I in my faith? I pray that each of us, myself included, will be honest with ourselves and take the time to make this assessment. Here is a prayer for each of us: PS 139: 23-14, “Examine me, O God, and know my mind: test me, and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.” In Christ, amen. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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