2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Have you ever had the experience of being the last person in your childhood elementary school yard to be chosen to be on a team? All kinds of ideas go through your head like, “I wish I was more popular?;” “I wish I was better at sports;” “I’m just a nobody,” and “I’m not worthy to be loved.” If you were anything like I was, you had these ideas and didn’t share them with anyone. They just got buried deep down inside with a lot of other mistruths that children growing up without faith tell themselves. It’s a shame that faith is something one must learn, but I suspect it is because of inherited sin that this is true. I didn’t even realize I had bought into the adversary’s lies when I was made captain of the volleyball team in high school and almost became a professional ice skater. What I didn’t know as a child, but revel in knowing now is that there has never been a day in my life when I wasn’t loved or cherished. It took until Jesus Christ came into my life at the age of 25 for me to know the kind of love which had been there for me all of my life. In continuing our discussion of what God requires of us to be full participants in the Covenant of Grace, it is important for us to understand from the Scriptures just what God’s attitude toward us is. That will help us to endure whatever persecution comes our way as a result of our commitment to Him.
No apology is necessary for returning to JN 15 often to mine the wonderful truths in it. JN 15: 12-17, [Christ speaking] “My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you. The greatest love a person can have for friends is to give his life for them. And you are My friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from My Father. You did not choose Me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of Him in My name. This, then is what I command you: love one another.” There are two very salient points that we all are blessed to know from this: 1) Christ has told us everything He knows from the Father and 2) He chose us. Imagine being told that we will be given anything we ask for in Christ’s name. Emotionally speaking, Jesus Christ has stepped out on a huge limb. He has trusted people born as His enemies with everything He knows from the Father. In addition, He chose to love us unconditionally and set us apart to do His work (“bear much fruit”). As if that wasn’t enough, He promised to give us whatever we ask for in His name! To put this in other words, Christ chooses to trust us with what He knows, offer us friendship instead of the position of a subordinate servant, chose us to be called to faith and join Him in His work, and trusts us to know to ask only for things in keeping with God’s will! This is hardly the attitude shown toward those unloved!
In looking at this message to us, we need to understand that it is a privilege to be invited to join in God’s work and to be given unconditional love by Him. I always feel more at home when I visit someone else if I’m asked to help them entertain and/or feed me. The host who won’t allow this isn’t the same. That may seem strange upon first inspection, but in some circumstances the host who won’t let me help is saying, “I don’t trust you to come into my kitchen.” Naturally, I understand that there are certain circumstances where my helping isn’t appropriate, but I’m writing here about those where it would be. God loves us and trusts us enough to invite us to join Him in His work. What isn’t often apparent at first when we are given an assignment by Him is the utter joy we will experience when we find ourselves doing this work in a way which pleases Him. What will often happen is that we will discover we can do things we never knew before that we can do. In addition, we can take joy in the service of God in seeing how God works in the lives of others around us. One further plus: if we are doing our service to God’s glory in a way which pleases Him, He brings us closer than ever to Him and makes us His friends.
Christ said the greatest love we can show to our friends is to give our lives for them. Look at His example. MT 26: 26-28, “While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples. ‘Take and eat it,’ He said; ‘this is My body.’ then He took a cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it them. ‘Drink it, all of you,’ He said; ‘this is My blood, which seals God’s covenant, My blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” I’m virtually certain that the disciples didn’t understand the full impact of what Christ was saying here at the time, but they did later. They were just like I was when I was a child and didn’t understand that I was loved to the extent that I was. Read Luke’s description of that Last Supper assertion of Christ’s. LK 22: 17-20, “Then Jesus took a cup, gave thanks to God, and said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves. I tell you that from now on I will not drink this wine until the Kingdom of God comes.’ Then He took a piece of bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in memory of Me.’ In the same way, He gave them the cup after the supper, saying, ‘This cup is God’s new covenant sealed with My blood, which is poured out for you.’” Can there be any question of God’s love for each of us? I think not.
PRAYER: O Lord, how blessed we are that You chose us and called us to faith! We need never feel unloved as long as we keep our commitment to the Covenant of Grace which You have so generously and lovingly extended to us. There are many times when You will call us to types of service we feel ill equipped to handle. That was surely the case with many of Your most productive servants, like Moses and Jeremiah. Yet, You command us to place our trust in You, knowing potential we have that we never knew. You want us to understand that as our Creator, You have equipped us for the service to which You called us. In addition, You want us to know that You want to be the best Friend we have. That is why You allow us to know You and Your agenda for us. To that end, You sent Your Son to do the work of the cross, so that we might understand by His example that He is our Friend Who was willing to give up His life for us. It is out of the unquenchable love that You have for us that You called us through Him to be faithful, obedient, diligent, trusting, and loyal servants. All the while You knew that what You command us to do for You will also bring us closer to You as Your friends-so close that it will lead to a life of eternal joy and fellowship with You. That, Dearest Lord, is love beyond measure. We humbly approach You with utmost reverence to offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
Just as we need to know God’s attitude toward believers, we also need to understand what the world feels about Him and the consequences of their stand. That will be the subject of tomorrow’s devotion. Take comfort in knowing that when we are faithful, we go about the business of our lives surrounded by an aura of love that comes directly from the Father through the Son. When we are truly aware of God’s presence with us and are truly obedient to Him, we are given a blessing that is so profound as to be life-changing. I might say life-giving. That kind of support and love can get us through whatever challenges to our faith that the adversary might attempt. Never feel alone or abandoned, because God loves each of us more than we can know. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn