2002-01-01
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
Because of the limitations of our five senses in comparison to God’s omniscience, our wise and loving Deity knows that faith in Him is not always easily brought about. He reaches down to His creation and invites them to come to Him in faith, obey, and therefore, have the opportunity to have eternal life. In offering this invitation, the Lord makes it known to us what the alternative to accepting it is, in the great hope that we would accept it. In His infinite wisdom, He also knows that we need a continuing and active relationship with Him that is a very vital part of our everyday existence in order that we might become sanctified, that is perfected enough to be willing, able, and ready to accept that call to meet with Christ in the clouds when it comes [1 THESS 4: 13-17]. That is why I described both God Himself and our covenant relationship with Him in yesterday’s message as living and dynamic.
Anyone who goes to church and participates there knows that we are told to study the Scriptures and to pray. This kind of prayer should be two-way communication with God in which we allow Him to speak first. It should be on-going, sometimes private and sometimes corporate. JN 15: 5, “I am the vine and you are the branches, if a man is in Me and I in him, then you can bear much fruit. Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” Those are Christ’s words that reveal the necessity for us to remain really connected to Him in everything we do, no matter what the setting. JN 15: 7 is the amazing power of prayer. “If you remain in Me and I in you, ask for anything you want in My name, and it will be given you.” What that is saying is that we can ask for anything in line with God’s will in Christ’s name, a will that is revealed to us through study, prayer, our circumstances, and our congregations, and it will be given to us. Think about how that impacts the life of a believer!
There are wonderful examples of the conversations that went on between the Lord and mankind in the Scriptures. These reveal the nature of how God intends to keep His promises if we are faithful. In the very precious passage in JER 31 which begins at verse 31 and goes through 40, God reveals His plan to Jeremiah which conforms to His assertions in JER 29: 11-13, “The Lord says, “When Babylonia’s seventy years are over, I will show My concern for you and keep My promise to bring you back home. I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. Then you will call to Me. You will come and pray to Me, and I will answer you. You will seek Me, and you will find Me because you will seek Me with all your heart.’” In JER 31-37-44, God promises the land will be permanently restored and God will be “their God Who does good things for them.” God specifies that He will give the people a single purpose in life, to honor Him forever for their own good and that of their descendants. He will make an eternal covenant with them. They will have reverence in their hearts for Him and will never turn away from Him. What we can take away from this is that while God is setting Himself at the center of our lives, we are being giving joyful eternal lives in close fellowship with Him. We are not being made to suffer in any way, once we inhabit the new Jerusalem.
In EZK 11: 13-21, Ezekiel, a faithful Jewish prophet who spends his whole life as the spiritual leader of a group of Jewish captives in the Chabar River settlement off the Euphrates River in Babylonia, asks God, “Are You going to kill everyone left in Israel?’ (13). God answered: The people in Israel say the exiles are too far away to worship God, and God has given us possession of the land. Tell your fellow exiles I am the One Who scattered them, and I will be present with them where they are. I will gather them and give Israel back to them (14-18). When the exiles return, they will get rid of all the filthy, disgusting idols they find. God went on to say that He will give the people a new heart and a new mind, and He will take away their stubborn hearts of stone (19). They will keep God’s laws faithfully and obey His commands. They will be His people, and He will be their God. God will punish violators for what they have done. (20-21). It is precisely this kind on on-going conversation with God that we need to have today. This kind of encouragement and revelation of His justice is what allows us as believers to deal with the challenges of our own lives. Satan is out there trying to interfere with this covenant conversation, because he wants to thwart what God is trying to do for us. We have to have the faith to believe that if we keep in close contact with God and obey His commandments, that Satan’s power to stop God’s will from being done is ineffective. Take comfort in knowing that and see the value on on-going interaction with our loving Abba every minute of our lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, You are about the task of restoration and blessing every day. Every time a believer is able to invoke the Holy Spirit in the midst of witnessing to a non-believer, and that latter person comes to faith, Your work is being done. There is no way that we can make the proper corrections in our own lives or effectively witness to a non-believer bringing Him to faith without Your continuing guidance, instruction, direction, and encouragement. These things are only available when we recognize Your presence in our lives, Your always-righteous agenda for them, and the power of the Holy Spirit to bring truth into them. Once we and others are restored to faith, the distance from You caused by sin is shortened. As we go through the sanctification process, You bring us even closer to You in preparation for that time when we will be called to come to our permanent home by Christ in the air. You continue to converse with us, and we must leave ourselves open and willing to listen. All of this is part of the process that is our covenant relationship with You. You allow us a view of Your perspective, so much higher and better than ours. We dedicate ourselves today to listening to trusting in and obeying You. We humbly acknowledge Your supremacy and sovereignty over our lives and make You the Lord of them. We confess our sins and our need for Your presence and direction in our lives. We offer You our worship, adoration, loyalty, diligence, open minds and hearts, glory, and honor. Most of all we praise and thank You for being the Deity You are. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will compare EZK 36: 24-28 which what has already been discussed in EZK 11: 13-21 and go on to see more of God’s restoration of His children and blessing given to them. How blessed we are to be covenant partners with a Deity Who truly is righteous and adores us! Peter and I send you our love too.
race Be With You Always,
Lynn