2023-08-04
Good Morning Dear Ones,
As a reminder, the gifts of the Holy Spirit from GA 5: 22-23 are: love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Sometimes, the word “forbearance” is used for patience. In the devotions I’ve been writing this year, the Holy Spirit has had me writing about each of them. However, the Lord Jesus presents us with some truths that we also need to know. The verses in MT 10: 32-39 were the Lord’s words among a large crowd that had gathered right after He told people not to worry about material things because God sees to these, but instead to understand the need for faith in God. Jesus and the disciples were on their way to Jerusalem when these words were said: “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.” This last sentence goes right to the heart of the definition of a friend that was given in JN 15: 12-17, which I wrote about last week. Basically, it was that a friend is not just a servant and will give his or her life for another person. Of course, we hope we won’t be called upon to do that, but it could happen.
I’ll continue Jesus’ words in MT 10: 34-35: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” If that sounds illogical to you in view of Jesus’ previous name in IS 9:6 as the “Prince of Peace,” it must be understood that peace is given to those who profess His Lordship and position as Savior. So, we must examine why Jesus said this and what it means to us.
Jesus wants us to understand that His teaching and that of the Scriptures [2 TIM 3: 16-17] is designed to grant us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. However, He was speaking to a crowd, some of whom were rejecting His teaching and some of whom were ardent believers. Is this just a case of sour grapes directed at those who reject Jesus? I don’t think so. That is because one must come to faith in Him or suffer the eternal consequences of serially rejecting it. Jesus, like the Father, wants to see as many people as possible saved, eternally forgiven, and justified, therefore able to gain eternal life. What Jesus is saying here is that some members of a household will proclaim Him their personal Savior and others won’t, thus providing the potential for family drama, which calls upon the members to examine their motives and priorities. Christ knew this journey to Jerusalem was bringing Him closer to the reality of giving His physical life for the sake of those who believe in Him. This could be likened to His walk on the water and calming the storm for believers found in LK 8: 22-25.
Yet another challenging concept is found in 2 PET 3: 8-9, “But do not forget this one thing. Dear Friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promises, as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” We are an impatient lot by nature. We pray for something and hope God will answer our prayer immediately. We may even look at our calendar to see why God is taking so long. Our calendar and time frame rarely matches His. He takes the time He needs to give us one of these three answers, “yes,” “no,” or “maybe later.” God doesn’t do this to make us miserable; He does it because His timing and method of answering is always in our best eternal interests. That part of the love He has for us, the love from which we cannot be separated [RO 8: 38-39]. God has no evil in Him [1 JN 1: 5] and thus, would never make a decision or select a time to answer prayer that isn’t in our best eternal interests. That is a reason why patience as we wait for God is a big part of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have given us some concepts in Your teaching that are initially difficult for us to understand. However, we must see that You are encouraging us to think in eternal and not just earthly terms. When we do this and take the time to know Your heart, they become much easier to understand. Your desire is for us to walk through that door marked FAITH, and thus, gain eternal life with You. You did the work of redemption by giving Your physical life at the cross, by going to hell for three days, and by being resurrected to life everlasting. The Father has given us 2 PET 3: 8-9 to help us understand the need for patience, as we await the fulfillment of promises You made concerning us all and individual prayer/ praise requests. We thank and praise You for Your wisdom, love, and peace for all who believe or who will believe. In Jesus’ holy/mighty name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: Next week, I have been commanded to write about what is necessary to have peace. We need to examine this issue both individually and corporately. Real peace is closely tied with reconciliation with God. Jesus serves as a Source of teaching that will help bring reconciliation between as many people as possible---as many people as the Father has given Him. My own experience with this notion has been rich and nothing short of amazing to me. I never thought that my time as a rebellious teenager would lead me to an earthly outcome as it did. That time gave me a view of the extreme contrast between life without faith in Jesus Christ and life with it. I took a course in my past in which our class was asked for each student to make a timeline of his or her life. That assignment was a huge eye-opener! It was emotionally difficult at times and immensely satisfying at times during the time I was working on this chart. Needless to say, I wasn’t the only one who had this experience. Others did too. This chart was made to fulfill God’s will that we should know ourselves better than before. It helped to answer the prayer of PS 139: 23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” He wants us to mature in our spiritual lives, as evidenced in HE 5: 13-14, “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” The latter is what our loving Lord wants for us. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
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