2020-07-03
Good Morning Dear Ones,
For the last 15 weeks, we have been on lockdown, self-quarantining due to the Covid 19 virus pandemic. Please don’t feel sorry for us, because the Lord has kept me busy as a bird dog with ministry work. I’m teaching an adult Bible study on the phone- via conference call- with my students once a week, and I’m working on knitting and crochet projects for those in need. In addition, I’m writing these weekly devotions to my readers. My husband, Peter, has supporting all this activity in so many ways, I can’t count them all. So, you must be wondering why I mention this at all. The reason is that God has told us, in MT 10: 22 that we should expect troubles during our time on Earth. [God speaking], “Everyone who does not believe in Me with hate you, because of Me. But whoever holds on to the end will be saved.” Wow! That is said to signal us that despite our difficulties, He has not forgotten us. So, why so much trouble? As we learn to work through our troubles and rely on God for help, we are becoming more and more purified and ready for the time when He will take us up to heaven to be with Him. This means He is here for us, doesn’t ignore our faithful obedience, and will decide when the time is best to call us home. He watches for us and cares for us the whole time, always keeping His eyes on us [1 PET 5: 7]. That’s hardly desertion, despite what non-believers assert! In MT 10: 34-37, the Lord speaks of not coming to bring peace. He explains Himself as setting family against family and forcing people to make a choice between faithful obedience and rejection of the Lord. We mustn’t misunderstand His words, because they are meant to work like a shaker, which sifts out the believers from those who are rejecters.
Our skill sets and callings come from the Lord Jesus, just as Paul’s calling came from other than human hands. The same is true concerning our faith in Christ and willingness to live rightly and obey Him. He gives us the choice, but we have to make it. Our experience is that once we decide we believe, He equips us with the strength to avoid temptation, hunger for His word, and willingness to let the Holy Spirit direct our lives. This latter statement is the definition of a God-led life. Lives without this obedient faith in the Lord are human-led existences. There is a lack of clarity, unity, and orderliness in a human-led life. It is one that allows idolatry of many kinds to take over. That is how the first 25 years of my own life was, and I was miserable. Ever since I became aware that the Lord had been watching over me and wanted me to be a committed believer, things turned around in a big way for me. So, here are we, in this historic time of sheltering in place due to a pandemic, being given reason to once again thank and praise the Lord that has kept us and our loved ones are safe and healthy. And to think, this is true, even though my husband and I are high risk people. It is our faith in the Holy Spirit, Who has told us to remain at home (except for acquisition of groceries and medications); He has guided us through this pandemic.
As for the Lord, He went through persecution, unfair treatment at the hands of those who judged Him, scourging, and crucifixion (the longest and most painful physical death known to mankind). Years ago, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association [JAMA], outlined the physical changes that happened over the three days it took for Christ to die on the cross. Because He obeyed the Father and endured all the most excruciating death possible without losing His resolve, the Father resurrected Him to His rightful place of honor in heaven. That was Christ’s reward for eternity, and it opened the door for any of us who will come to faith in Him to enjoy a remarkably wonderful eternal life too. So, each of us reading this devotion needs to ask ourselves these questions: Is our life God or human-driven? Do we recognize all the ramifications of Christ’s Atonement of our lives? Have we spent time studying God’s word? Have we come to see the wisdom in His teaching and our obedience to Him? Have we paid attention to the many blessings our faith is bringing us every day? Do we remember to praise and thank Him in prayer? There is no better love and kindness than the kind that He gives us every day! Praise and thanks be to Him!
PRAYER: O Lord, we approach Your mighty throne with joy and peace in our hearts-even in such trying times as these. Our heads are bowed, knees are bent, and hearts are filled with reverence and awe. Long ago, You sacrificed Your Son, Jesus, on the cross, but not without purpose. You knew that many people with the potential to live rightly with You would be given a chance to gain eternal life by means of this sacrifice. You equipped the Lord Jesus with resolve, despite the ill treatment He received, to keep His obedience to You, never wavering. While Christ deserved the eternal blessing of glorification that You gave Him, we never did. And yet, You decided by Your grace we should have the opportunity to express the dictates of our hearts, letting You know if we had faith too. If we genuinely profess Christ’s Messiahship and our faith in it, You allow us to be glorified one day. While we eagerly await that day [RO 8: 18], we pledge to use all the resolve You give us to serve You and to lean on Your wisdom. Yes, Lord, we want to continue lives that are led by Your Spirit. We will watch for the blessings You bestow, thanking and praising You with joy in our hearts [1 THESS 5: 16-18]. We believe You will take us through this pandemic safely and that You will equip us with sufficient resolve to remain faithfully obedient to You through whatever happens. We offer You and thank You for the grace and peace You have given us. In Christ’s holy/mighty name, we pray. Amen
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded to discuss more reasons that Christ died for us. We are still sinners, living in a chaotic and evil world. This doesn’t mean that we are doomed to remain this way. Perhaps, our time on Earth is a time of spiritual training? But God has His reasons for our spending time here. He has brought us to a place where we must choose to be faithfully obedient to His teaching and the intervention of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And, it doesn’t always mean taking the easy road. MT 7: 13-14, “Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it.” I was presented with the trite comment, “no one promised you a rose garden,” when I once complained to a church official that I didn’t understand what I had done to deserve such trouble as I was going through at the time. My feelings were hurt with his lack of sensitivity, but the Holy Spirit reminded me to hold on and rely on God, not other people, to work my way to peace again. Of course, the Holy Spirit was right, and I had to rely on Him for 17 years before this struggle was over. This is how we are honed and perfected in preparation for the glorification made possible by Christ’s Atonement. If we will hold on, we will come to see the face of the Lord forever. Blessed be Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2020. All Rights Reserved.
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