2002-09-23
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
God has a great deal to say about the importance of putting on our "Gospel shoes," i.e. being ready to witness to the Gospel of salvation and peace.... To stand firm in doing this, we must be convinced that we are at peace with God and, as much as possible with others.... Our peace with God has a great deal to do with our understanding of the great sacrifice He made for us of His Son on the cross and our commitment to repentance and faith in Him.... Once again, God conveys through Paul a clear message about our position with Christ in RO 5: 10-11.... "We were God's enemies, but He made us His friends through the death of His Son.... Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life!... But that is not all;... we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has now made us God's friends."... As we mature in the faith trusting and obeying God, He gives us the "peace that goes beyond human understanding" [PHIL 4: 7] more often, because He is pleased with the progress we make.... As for being at peace with others, we have been given very clear directives in several places in the Scriptures.... One compelling example is in COL 3: 12-15.... You are the people of God;... He loved you and chose you for His own.... So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.,... Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else.... You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you.... And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity.... The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make;... for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one Body.... And be thankful."
We must remember that Satan is aptly described in JN 8: 44, [Christ speaking to the Pharisees]... "You are the children of your father, the devil, and you want to follow your father's desires.... From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him.... When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies."... Satan is a destroyer of mankind's souls.... He carries this out with craft and deception.... He tempts and torments his prey.... On the other hand, we must understand that the adversary has overpowering opposition from Christ and all who believe in Him.... His opposition is on God's winning side.... Just note the description of Christ in comparison to the adversary found in IS 9: 6 [KJV].... "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given:... and the government shall be upon His shoulder;... and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."... Ah yes, our loving "Sar Shalom" [Hebrew words for "Prince of Peace"]!... Quite a contrast, isn't it?... In keeping with getting ready to stand firm and witness to the truth of the Gospel, we Messianic Jews greet each other and those to whom we hope to witness with the word, "Shalom."... It is a way of saying we come in peace.... And if we are going to witness to a person, we can tell them that we want to share the Good News of peace and salvation.
I can't finish all that God has to say about anger, bitterness, and forgiveness in EPH 4: 25-32 in this message today, but I'm led to cite this important passage and begin here.... The rest will be the subject of the next few messages.... "No more lying, then!... Everyone must tell the truth to his fellow believer, because we are all members together in the Body of Christ.... If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day.... Do not give the devil a chance.... The man who used to rob must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for himself and to be able to help the poor....... Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you....... And do not make God's Holy Spirit sad;... for the Spirit is God's mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free.... Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger.... No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort.... Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ."
If we examine these words carefully, we can see a description of Christ Himself in them.... Christ was angry only when it was righteous to be so, as in the case of the moneychangers in the temple [MT 21: 12-13].... Even after that incident, He still approached every non-believer with the attitude that he might one day come to faith.... Just look at the examples of King Nebuchadnezzar from DN 4: 34-37, the Samaritan woman in JN 4, the centurion who guarded the cross of crucifixion [MK 15: 39], and one of the thieves who was being crucified with Christ [LK 23: 40-43].... Christ never pre-judged any of these people, and they were not the kind we would think would come to faith.... Yet, they did.... Our Lord didn't hold grudges, nor was He bitter.... He has always been forgiving.... We should examine our own lives to assess where we stand on these things.
PRAYER: O Lord, we stand before You today in need of assessing how ready we are to witness to others about our faith in the Gospel of salvation and peace.... Some of us need to study your word more to better understand this magnificent and valiant sacrifice You made of our Your Son on the cross.... Others understand Your word, but have anger, bitterness, or other sin in our lives that block our usefulness to You in witnessing.... Still others have the knowledge to witness, but are too shy or self-deprecating to think we can do it.... They have the "Moses Syndrome" [EX 4: 10-15].... You have made it clear that it is Your will that we should not be "Christian or Messianic Jewish Lone Rangers."... Our faith is not to be kept to ourselves.... It is to be shared with others.... Dearest Abba, You have given us many ways to do this.... We can share within the context of our circumstances.... We can do short-term or long-term missions wherever You send us.... We can witness though all kinds of service to You in teaching, preaching, writing, and public speaking, if we are so called.... We must pay careful attention to the opportunities that You make available for us to share the joy, peace, and salvation of the Gospel message.... You have given each of us different gifts to carry out Your agenda.... Some convey the Gospel through service in the medical field, by doing business ethically, by being involved in a service or manufacturing industry.... Some do so by showing children how to learn to believe by being the kind of parent they are.... No matter which way we are called to witness, we should put aside our reticence and boldly proclaim the message we know to be true.... That Christ is our Messiah and Savior, that He died on the cross and was buried for three days, and that He rose again to be seen by many witnesses before He ascended into heaven to sit at Your right hand [1 COR 15: 1-8; JN 3: 16; AC 1: 8-9].... Our hearts sing the words of PS 146: 1-2, "Praise the Lord!... Praise the Lord, my soul!... I will praise Him as long as I live;... I will sing to my God all my life."... Humbly, we confess our sin and offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, honor, glory, praise, and thanksgiving.... In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
In tomorrow's message as promised above, I am led to write about the lessons in EPH 4: 25-32.... When we are children, we are by nature very self-centered.... God's plan to make us in His own image [GN 1: 27] was to create us to have His qualities without being Him.... We were created for His pleasure.... Our Abba is not selfish, which means that His goal in our becoming mature is to have us shuck off that natural tendency to be self-centered and to learn the joy of sharing the great blessings He has given us with others.... Doing this builds our own faith and that of others while we are at it.... This righteous goal of God's arises out of the love He has for us.... No person who remains self-centered all his life is ever really happy.... God knows this and doesn't want that for us. Remember JN 14: 21, Christ's very own words. "Whoever accepts My commandments and obeys them is the one who loves Me.... My Father will love whoever loves Me;... I too will love him and reveal Myself to him."... Our Father in heaven loves and treasures each and every one of those who endure in obedient faith.... Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn