2019-04-12
Good Morning Dear Ones,
You’ll remember that we began the subject of control of the flesh found in the NT. As has been the case, this discussion is providing support Scriptures for the book of Colossians. In this way, we are commanded to delve into God’s very relationship with believers in Jesus Christ. 2 TIM 2: 22, “Avoid the passions of youth, and strive for righteous, faith, love, and peace, together with those who with a pure heart call out to the Lord for help.” It almost seems as if we are reading GA 5: 22-23, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We can all remember some of the “passions of youth,” because they got us into trouble at times. Our Lord wants us to mature in our thoughts and actions. 1 THESS 5: 19-22, “Do not restrain the Holy Spirit; do not despise inspired messages. Put all things to the test; keep what is good and avoid every kind of evil.” If we pray for it, the Lord will give us the discernment we need to recognize what is an inspired message and what is not, what is evil and what is not. Here’s a good way to start: PS 119: 125, “I am Your servant; give me understanding, so that I may know Your teachings.”
The flesh and the Spirit are opposites. Those who have a true relationship with our Lord are given the choice to resist temptations of the flesh. This is the main difference where discernment is needed. Those without such a relationship are forced by their bodily desires to plow ahead in response to temptation without much thought about the long-term consequences. If they never establish a relationship with Christ, they are doomed to spiritual death. The evil one is always setting traps for people, and only those in relationship with our Lord can recognize the traps for what they are and avoid them. Christ is always there to listen to our prayers and to stretch out His arm to help us. Praying often makes a lot of sense, because He is the only One with the power to really help us fend off the devil’s temptations. When we are faced with Satan’s traps, we will have the power from prayer to discern and to overcome with God’s help.
Now, we are commanded by the Holy Spirit to look at our position in relationship with Christ. COL 3: 1-4 reminds us that we died to sin and were raised with Christ. Thus, we should have our minds on the things of heaven rather than solely those of earth. What this means is that we can think in eternal terms and not just the things that are earthly. When Christ appears, we will too and share in His glory. Wrapping one’s head around this notion isn’t easy, for people who are being taught to be humble. However, bearing this notion in mind will give us sufficient motivation to live according to the Lord’s teaching. If we react to it in the stance of being superior to another person, we are not understanding what this amazing goal really means. A true believer’s reality is Christ, for we are hidden with Christ in God. Christ’s words in JN 14: 2-3, “There are many mansions in My Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this unless it were true. And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you there Myself, so that you will be where I am.” These words are truly comforting for a believer, because believers know that Christ always tells the truth, a truth we can believe.
There is yet another fact that a true believer knows about the Lord Jesus. HE 7: 24-25, “But Jesus lives on forever, and His work as Priest does not pass on to someone else. And so, He is able now and always, to save those who come to God through Him, because He lives forever to plead with God for them.” We can most likely remember a time before Christ came into our lives when we felt alone and abandoned. Trouble came, and we panicked, worrying how we would arise from it. However, when Christ comes into the life of a true believer, He is always there to hear our prayers and to help. If He chooses to remain silent in response to a prayer sent to Him, it is because He is the likeness of the invisible God and thus, has God’s full perspective on the matter at hand. He will choose the right time and way, the perfect ones, to respond to that prayer with His help. Trusting Him in such situations is learned behavior, but we are created with the capacity to learn to trust in Him. He advocates for us before the Father in response to the Covenant of Grace.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne in reverence and awe. As believers in Your Son, Jesus Christ, we have accepted truths that transcend normal human perspective. We understand that considering our actions in terms of eternity, rather than just the earthly consequences of them, is a greater discernment than one without Christ would have. This doesn’t make it alright for us to judge non-believers, because we can’t know if that person will eventually become a believer. That is why self-righteousness and judgment of another’s fate are inappropriate for a believer in Christ. Only You know exactly when He will appear again or what the fate of an individual is [MT 7: 1-2; MT 24: 36]. Christ has taught us humility by example. He also teaches us forgiveness that same way. These two traits in a person are admirable. The inner peace and serenity that practicing them gives can cause a non-believer to also want these things. You know this and encourage it in the Christian and Messianic Jewish communities. We can rest in the knowledge that 1 COR 15: 54b-57 is true. Christ has won the victory over the evil one and over death. Death gets it power to hurt through sin, and sin gets its power from the law. Christ’s victory is complete, and the evil one with his followers will be destroyed in Your perfect time. We can derive great comfort from knowing this. This is what being alive in Christ really means. We praise and thank You with all our hearts, for granting us both faith in Christ and salvation through Him. In His mighty name we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded to write about the nature of God’s love for us and how it is manifested in next week’s devotion. Our relationship with Christ is a powerful motivation for us to keep strengthening our faith, trust, and yielding of leadership to Him. It is truly a “win, win” way to live! Out of respect for other people’s privacy, I don’t use their lives as examples of the points I make in writing these devotions. Instead, I try to give examples from my own life. As an ordinary person who loves her Lord and His word, I know the most about my own life, faults, places where He has helped me, and areas where improvements are needed. I have dealt, with the Lord’s help, with impatience, arrogance, materialism, a need for establishing and improving my prayer life, overcoming dysfunction in my rearing, and learning to be a listener, to name a few areas of my own sinfulness. I still have other areas where improvement is needed. Thankfully, faithfulness and willingness to obey God aren’t in that list. I’m now at the age where dear ones in my life have begun to lose their spouses. The initial loneliness and grieving of these dear ones in my life has presented me with the need to remind them of God’s presence in their time of trouble. It’s not my place to sermonize about God with them, but more to listen and let them talk about their loved ones gone when they feel like it. Being a friend or family member at times like these, being with them and for them, is what the Lord wants me to do. I know that’s what I would want if I lost my dear husband. Each of us can be a blessing to the lives of others, if we are willing to present ourselves as the Lord Jesus would when needed. And for any believer, the Abrahamic covenant applies [GN 12: 2-3]. Praise and thanks be to Him forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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