2002-10-08
Good Morning Treasured Ones,
I am led to continue discussing how we can prepare ourselves to accept God's invitation to join Him in His work by witnessing. Yesterday, I began writing about HE 12: 1-17, a passage that gives us God's perspective on the issue of bitterness. God has revealed that His intent in correcting our inappropriate behavior should not be to make us so sad that we want to give up, but instead, to help us see the need to adjust our behavior so that it fits with His teaching. He wants us to know that bitterness is like poison that can spread to others if it is allowed to go unchecked. God wants more than anything to see us have the courage and forthrightness of faith to go through that narrow gate and walk that hard path [MT 7: 13-14] that will lead us to eternal life with Him. We can be sure that He is fully aware that Satan is putting land mines in our path, but He has given us the power to remove them [EPH 1: 18-20] and thwart Satan's efforts to destroy our faith and lead us to the lake of fire and sulfur.
We need to see what important principles God has for us in HE 12: 1-17.
1) To begin, when we commit an error, God is there to correct us, as any loving, responsible parent would be. PS 32: 8, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye." PS 119: 105, "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, a light for my path." PS 119: 65-67, "You have kept Your promise, Lord, and You are good to me, your servant. Give me wisdom and knowledge, because I trust in Your commands. Before You punished me, I used to go wrong, but now I obey Your word."
2) God's punishment to correct us is not designed to destroy us or discourage us. 2 COR 2: 6-7, "It is enough that this person has been punished in this way by most of you. Now, however, you should forgive him and encourage him, in order to keep him from becoming so sad as to give up completely." JER 29: 11-13, "I alone know the plan 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." RO 8: 28, "We know that in all things God works for good with those who love Him, those whom he has called according to His purpose."
3) God's discipline is for our own good. All the pain and inconvenience of the two dyasporas [scattering and loss of temporary loss of nationhood] Israel endured was for its own good. God had to address the lack of obedience His chosen people were displaying. He never intended that it should go on long enough to destroy Israel. JER 25: 11, "This whole land will be left in ruins and will be a shocking sight, and the neighboring nations will serve the kind of Babylonia for seventy years." JER 29:10, "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'" Another point that illustrates this assertion is that God's plan is to limit the time of the Tribulation in the future, so as not to destroy all His people, only the ones who have rejected Him. MT 24: 21-22, "For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. But God has already reduced the number of days; had He not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of His chosen people, however, God will reduce the days."
4) God is rescuing us from the enemy. PS 31: 3-5, "You are my Refuge and my Fortress; guide me and lead me as You have promised. Keep me safe from the trap that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care. You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God." PS 119: 133, "As You have promised, keep me from falling; do not let me be overcome by evil." PS 27: 5, "For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle." PS 46: 1, "God is our Refuge and our Strength, a very present Help in time of trouble."
5) We should not let bitterness lead us to sin and keep us from a life of holiness. EPH 4: 26-27, "If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do no stay angry all day. Do not give the devil a chance." 1 PET 1: 15-16, "Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as God who called you is holy. The Scriptures [LV 11: 44-45; 19:2] say, 'Be holy because I am holy.'" We don't want to end up like Esau [GN 27: 38-40] or the rich man who persecuted Lazarus [LK 16: 26-31] did, unable to rectify what we have done. You will notice that I have given citations in these examples from both the OT and the NT. That is so we can see the consistency and the underlying compassion in God's messages to us. God repeats all these messages because He thinks they are so important. Under the circumstances, we should take them to heart.
PRAYER: O Lord, today we come before You to acknowledge Your constant presence in our lives. Too often, we think we can rely on human advice that sits on a base of human agendas. We forget the advice You gave us through Solomon in PR 3: 5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show You the right way." Our arrogance and ego causes us to have difficulty in accepting Your omnipotence and omniscience for what they are. Our impatience leads us to want all the answers to all our questions right now. Your wisdom and timing are supreme. PS 139: 5-6, "You are all around me on every side; You protect me with Your power. Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding." Without Your wisdom, guidance and protection, we are helpless against Satan's attacks. With obedience to Your word and an active prayer life, we are equipped to fend off his fiery arrows or other weapons used against us. We believe in the "combat intelligence" You gave us in EPH 1: 18-20, which tells us that You have given us the same power You used to raise Christ from death to life to use against Satan. We understand now that one of Your most profound desires is that we should seek You first when we are in trouble, and that if we obey You, we will be protected. Dearest Abba, the words of these two messages are in our hearts today. PS 116: 5, "The Lord is kind and does what is right; our God is merciful." PS 145: 8-9,"The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works." Your grace is sufficient for all our needs. We thank You for that and praise You for Your mighty and righteous attributes. We come before Your altar with our spiritual vessels emptied of human agendas to ask You to fill them with the Holy Spirit. Our goal is to go forth and witness to our faith in the Gospel message of salvation and peace. In humility, we confess that we are sinners and open our hearts to You. Our pledge to You is our worship, adoration, trust, obedience, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving eternally. In Christ's name, amen.
The Holy Spirit leads me to write tomorrow about how we personally can learn to feel comfortable witnessing to our faith. When we who study human history look back over all the disobedience to God that mankind has committed, it stands as nothing short of amazing that God didn't give up on His creation. We must believe that there are limits to how much God will endure, which is why we are told there will be the end times. God would have to limit the time evil is allowed to exist on earth and in heaven; otherwise He would not demonstrate His righteousness [RO 3: 26]. The underlying message of this is that God profoundly loves His children, and wants as many of His creation to come back to Him for eternity as possible. We, who are believers, receive blessing beyond human imagination just for deciding to repent, come to faith in Christ, and live godly lives of holiness. What we do is so small in comparison to what our loving Abba does for us. We must never forget that He sacrificed His only Son on the cross, so that we could be saved. When He raised Christ to eternal life, we were left with Paul's wonderful message of RO 8: 29 that "He is the first among many brothers." What great hope that gives us and what great love our Father shows us every day of our lives! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn