2020-12-18
Good Morning Dear Ones,
In the task of writing my messages, the Holy Spirit leads me to explain intangible things that are impossible for any reader to understand without His presence in one’s life. That is because faith must be a part of this reader’s life. If one has not yet come to faith, he must be a seeker with a heart willing to learn. My hope is that such a seeker might be helped by what I write. Having said this, I can’t claim any special proximity to or ability to see the Father. I’m human, and He is invisible to me. However, I certainly can see what He has commanded to be created by His visible second personality, Christ. The Latter possesses qualities that are both human and divine-something which makes Him extraordinary in every way. He is the only truly perfect being in His human form and function. JN 6: 38, “Christ has come down from heaven to do the will of the Father.” The tasks of forming the earth from a void, creating Adam and Eve, intervening when needed in the lives of believers, setting an example for us to follow, and opening the depth of God’s knowledge to those who believe are just a few of His more important ways of carrying out the Father’s will. In His first earthly incarnation Christ liked to refer to Himself as the “Son of Man,” meaning the betterment of mankind and enabling believers to gain eternal life are His most important goals.
JN 3: 28, “When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know I am who I am; then, you’ll know I do nothing on My own authority, but only what God instructed Me to do or say.” In view of the need to civilize mankind that is always present, this task is surely not easy. A student of mine once said, “Oh, Jesus is always calm and at peace!” But such is not the case. This student hadn’t yet read the story of Jesus being angry enough to turn over the tables of the money changers in front of the temple [MT 21: 12-17; MK 11: 15-19; LK 19: 45-46; JN 2: 13-22]. Nor was the time Christ’s friends, Martha and Mary were mourning the death of their brother, Lazarus. That was when the Lord Jesus came to them in Bethany and empathetically wept beside them [JN 11: 1-35 (33)]. This happened even though Christ knew He was about to bring Lazarus back to life and teach them that He is the Resurrection. He wanted us all to know JN 11: 25-26, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Those who believe in Me will live even though they die; and those who live and believe in Me will never die.” Such a statement said to a person without the Holy Spirit would set his head spinning in confusion. However, we know that Christ is differentiating between physical and spiritual life here. All of us must die physically, but we never have to die spiritually unless we spend our lives rejecting Christ and God’s Spirit. A Christian believer who lives according to Christ’s teaching and lives to please God can look forward to sweet fellowship with God and going to heaven for eternity. That truth gives believers motivation to take the rocky path that leads from the narrow gate to eternity. I’m reminded that Christ’s hand is outstretched to us to help us whenever the going gets too hard. Further thought reminds me that our challenges, illnesses, and losses are God’s way of growing us spiritually and helping us to look at the bigger picture that eternity gives us. COL 1: 13-14, “We were rescued from the dominion of darkness and were brought into Christ’s Kingdom. By Christ, we were set free and our sins are forgiven. That should feel like a warm shower after being filthy from the toil of your work. The sinner is washed clean with Christ’s blood shed in the Atonement. A huge load has been lifted from the sinner’s shoulders. And to think, that is only one of God’s great acts of love toward His people.
These statements may seem strange at a time like 2020. The world is dealing with a horrific pandemic (Corona virus) that our country hasn’t yet found a way to control. To make matters worse, those who would divide our country have been chiseling away at it with abandon over the last year. The evil one’s anger is greater than ever. It is as if God were upending and shaking a powder shaker with openings of one size, allowing only certain size powder grains to remain in it.
We had to wait 4 ½ agonizing days to find out the results of our presidential election. All of us are sick and tired of the year-long repetitious political ads in the media. And yet, those of us who have the Holy Spirit understand the reason for all these challenges. Our faith is being tested, and we have what it takes to show the Lord that we can, in spite of all this trouble, hang on to our faith in Him. Thanks to Him for giving us the Holy Spirit, Who tells us to be patient and demonstrate the gifts He gives us mentioned in GA 5: 22-23. In this difficult time, I have spent many hours in prayer for those who mourn the loss of such a significant portion of the world’s population, especially here in the States. But I know the Father hears our prayers and will eventually rectify all that has happened. Praise and thanks be to Him, Who never abandons those who love and obey Him!
PRAYER: O Lord, You are capable of loving all Your human creation. There are times when our sinning forces You to bring punishment and loss upon us. However, You never abandon us or the hope that those who are seeking will come to full faith. You are a Parent Who wants what is best in the eternal sense for all of us. Because of your love, those who reject You and disobey You bring disappointment to You. We understand and pull together, ever tighter in our faith. We ask You to hear our prayers for those who disappoint You and to heal the divisions among us. It is true that a house divided against itself cannot stand. We pray that our country and the rest of those in the world will be healed and will know peace. We who believe in Christ are grateful for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the guidance He gives us. Our prayer today is that we might learn the lessons that studying history and Your word give us. We pledge our faith and obedience to You, knowing well that it brings sweet heavenly fellowship forever and is well worth all the trouble we face. We thank You for enduring in Your promises kept and blessings bestowed. We uplift You for the goodness and other fine qualities You exhibit. Teach us to be more Christ-like in our ways. In His holy name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: Such important information as this really deserves another devotion on how the personalities of the Trinity function together. So, that will be the subject of next week’s offering. In the meanwhile, it’s time for yet again another session of prayer. We have things like this country’s healing of divisions, better control of the skyrocketing number of Covid 19 cases, physical healing for those who contract the virus, advances in research that will bring a vaccine for Covid 19, for less disobedience like meetings of large groups without face masks, and for the Holy Spirit to be able to inhabit the souls of many more people. I will also offer prayers of thanks for our wonderful first responders, doctors and nurses who attempt to help those with the Corona virus, and for all others who put their lives on the line for those less fortunate. It’s winter now, and I pray it will be a peaceful one with the hope of rebirth physically and spiritually. One more hope is on my list, that as many people as possible will look at Christ’s example and try to live by it. Our Lord deserves our utmost love and praise!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2020. All Rights Reserved.
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