2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The issue of having faith is a huge one to God and for us. Faith, as Les Feldick so clearly defines it, is taking God at His word. The practice of it is also one of the vehicles God uses to determine the content of our hearts. That is so important to Him, because He desires to perfect us to the point where we are ready at the time Christ is to come for us to be given resurrection bodies and go to heaven with Him [1 COR 15: 39-46 & 50-54; 1 THESS 4: 16-17]. I have often spoken of the steps we must go through beginning with repentance, moving on to confession of true faith, and so on. From God’s point of view, we are truly works in progress. A big part of having faith is placing our trust in God and being willing to obey His commands even when we don’t understand them or they come at a time we think is inconvenient for us. We are given the example of Abraham answering God’s command to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on the altar in GN 22: 9-14-a passage that contains many important lessons for us and demonstrates God as Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord Who provides. It is this name for God that He leads me to examine today.
GN 22: 9-14, “When they came to the place which God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he picked up the knife to kill him. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ He answered, ‘Yes, here I am.’ ‘Do not hurt the boy or do anything to him. Now I know that you have obedient reverence for God, because you have not kept back your only son from Him.’ Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham named that place ‘The Lord Provides’ [Jehovah-Jireh]. And even today people say, ‘On the Lord’s mountain He provides.’” Just as that ram was a substitute sacrifice for Abraham’s “son of the promise,” Isaac, Christ on the cross was a substitute sacrifice for our sins. Abraham’s obedience was a demonstration allowing God to know exactly the extent of his reverence. Jehovah-Jireh’s sacrifice of His only begotten Son lets us know the extent of His love and faithfulness. With that in mind, how can we miss the extent to which God deserves our worship, adoration, trust, and obedience?
I am not ashamed to repeat JN 3: 16 as many times as God directs for us to begin to assess the magnitude of the sacrifice our Jehovah-Jireh has made for us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him shall never perish but shall have everlasting life.” RO 3: 24-25 is another passage I will often cite because of its crucial message to us. “But by the free gift of God’s grace all are put right with Him though Christ Jesus, Who sets them free. God offered him, so that by His death He should become the means by which people’s sins are forgiven through their faith in Him.” The solid basis upon which we should love, honor, obey, and worship God is laid at the cross. God led me to examine what He provides for us, and I am forced to conclude it is that which we need most-a way out of slavery to sin and to salvation through Jesus Christ. No other need that we have is greater than that.
We must ask: When things are not going well for us, to whom should we turn? Then, we must ask: To whom do we turn? In answering these questions, I would like to share my experience in dealing with my husband, Peter’s, 18-month period of searching for a job. I’m not proud to admit that my first reaction upon him coming home to tell me that his job was being eliminated in a “re-structuring” of his company being done by its new CEO was white hot anger. This was not directed at him, but the poor guy had to put up with hearing me rail away at the injustice of it. That was me giving into the flesh. When I finally calmed down, my sweet husband told me, “At the same time that my boss was telling me about the decision, God was telling me, ‘Your value to Me is not based on what you do for a living or how much money you make.’ We are going to be okay. We just have to let go and let God.” I had a lot to learn about faith, Dear Ones, and God would teach me that lesson in the 18 months that ensued. You already know that our Jehovah-Jireh blessed me in that time with the opportunity to coordinate the e-mail portion of WLC’s prayer chain, with my devotions writing work, and eventually, with a new job for Peter. He also blessed Peter and I with an extraordinary number of loving and caring friends to offer us both spiritual and emotional encouragement.
The prophet, Joel, answers the first question above in JL 2: 32, “But all who ask the Lord for help will be saved. As the Lord has said, ‘Some in Jerusalem will escape; those whom I choose will survive.’” Paul recognized the importance of this message in RO 10: 10-13, “For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved. The Scripture [IS 28: 16] says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ This includes everyone because there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles; God is the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call to Him. As the Scripture [JL 2: 32] says, ‘Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.’” We can find further illumination from the Lord through Isaiah’s words in IS 28: 16-17. “This, now, is what the Sovereign Lord says, ’I am placing in Zion a foundation that is firm and strong. In it I am putting a solid cornerstone on which are written the words, ‘Faith that is firm is also patient.’ Justice will be the measuring line for the foundation and honesty will be its plumb line.” Dear Ones, our Lord loves us and wants us to turn to Him when we are in trouble needing guidance, encouragement, and direction in our lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have told us in PS 46: 10, “Be still and know that I am the Lord, supreme among the nations, supreme over the world.” Those words mean so much to us that we should heed them well. Not only do You remind us of the power You possess to alter human history, but You also let us know that You love us enough to want us to seek Your help when we are in trouble. To do this, we must push away our human agendas, sinful ways, and desire to give into the flesh. That is how we can empty our spiritual vessels so as to allow Your Spirit to freely operate from within us. We must turn to You in confession and supplication, so that we demonstrate the openness of our hearts to allowing the Spirit to lead us. We must quiet down, so that we can hear Your voice and then follow the commands You give us. No trouble that the adversary can create can defeat us when we make You the Lord of our lives through living “in Christ.” You will let us know when we have pleased You by granting us the peace that goes beyond human understanding [PHIL 4:7]. When we choose to place our trust in You and obey You, You bless us abundantly. Today, we approach You in reverence and humility and pledge You our trust, obedience, adoration, worship, honor, glory, praise, and thanks. It is the least that You deserve from us. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, the Lord leads me to go on with more citations that reveal Him as our Jehovah-Jireh. What a gift our loving Abba has given us in both the death of His Son on the cross and His daily presence in our lives. How could we even think we could live without Him? We can boldly face the trials of our lives knowing that we have Abba rooting for us, helping us, and offering us unparalleled love every minute of our lives. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn