2025-01-10
Good Morning Dear Ones,
A problem arose which is depicted in GA 2 that shows how easily things go awry when humans try to alter God’s instructions. The Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were combining traditional Judaism with Christianity. Paul and Barnabas arrived to find John, Peter (called Cephas here), and James giving in to the influence of traditional Jewish spies there to see the freedom in Christ these believers had. Titus, a Greek, was made to be physically circumcised. Even Barnabas was led astray. Later in Antioch, Paul and Cephas had a heated discussion on this matter found in GA 2: 11-21. Paul, who knew the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, asserted in GA 2: 19-21, “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Believe that this problem is nothing new. That’s why we find PR 3: 5-6 in the OT, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Cults still exist today, and they did in Paul’s time struggling against Gnosticism. So, what is the fundamental problem? It is surrender! Jesus, in MK 8: 34-35, said to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” Long ago in HO 4: 6, the prophet Hosea wrote, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” PS 95: 6, “O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker!” David wrote, in PS 46: 10, “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!”
Before those favored apostles in Peter’s time could practice the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, they had to recognize the supreme importance of surrender to Him. Paul was on the right track in attempting to set these hypocrites straight. It’s my opinion that the only way to true surrender is to study and learn the Scriptures. We need to learn from the example of Moses, David, Paul, and others that surrender is absolutely necessary for developing the kind of faith that David had when he wrote PS 63, (which I hope you will read). There is nothing more necessary than trust in God. This is the kind of faith that is so strong that it overrides the fear that people feel when their lives are at stake. It conforms to JER 29: 11-13, God’s clear-cut answer for how to know His motives and intensions. “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not to bring disaster, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart.” There is nothing more compelling than how much God wants us to seek Him.
If it comforts us, and it should, God is chasing after us. We need to chase after Him too. That’s how the last citation can come true. God wants us to follow Christ’s precepts, so that we have the easiest time finding Him. He will always be seeking our surrender to Him, because He knows that is the way for righteousness and hope to be real. Just look over the lives of Moses, David, and Paul to see how that works. None of those men had easy earthly lives, but they all lived as Christ would wish. I believe in the events of REV and believe these men and other faithful people will be honored in heaven for eternity. What better future could any of us anticipate?
PRAYER: O Lord, alone and led by human/fleshly desires, we are doomed to failure and being forgotten except for our dirty deeds. With You leading our lives, we can look forward to eternal life and sweet fellowship. MT 7: 7, “Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” In case we get the notion that our seeking doesn’t matter to You, just look at what Christ says in REV 3: 20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me.” We are invited as victors over evil to sit down with God on His throne in heaven. Yes, Lord, that is a wonderful promise that comes with surrendering to You. We are eternally grateful for the love You show us and the deeds You do for us. Our needs are great, and we know You have taught us that “the Spirit in us is greater than the spirit in the world” [1 JN 4: 4]. We offer You our sincerest thanksgiving and praise for making salvation possible due to the faithful obedience and sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus Christ, in Whose name we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: In a very general way, next week’s devotion can be described as: “After surrender, what?” I’ve written about transformation before, but we will look at it with an eye to the various ways it can be made real in human interactions. God’s place in this is central and essential. It’s described in EPH 2: 19-22, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief Cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him too, you are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” How can we forget JN 3: 16? “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Now that, Dear Ones, is really living! Thanksgiving and praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2024. All Rights Reserved.
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