2002-11-14
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I am led to continue with citations that reveal how God intervenes and interacts with mankind during fierce spiritual warfare. God’s presence and His help are two of the many blessings of our salvation. It was God who called us to faith and His Son, Who by His death on the cross, made it possible for us to be saved. All of this is part of God’s bigger plan for us, a plan which arose out of His most magnificent grace.
At times when we are crying out in pain or in grief, we are never abandoned by our compassionate Lord. One citation that really shows this is EX 2: 23-25, “Years later the Egyptian pharaoh died, but the Israelites were still groaning under their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry went up to God, Who heard their groaning and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He saw the slavery of the Israelites and was concerned for them.” This was no accident. God knew ahead how long the Jews would be slaves of the Egyptians. We know this from GN 15: 13 [God speaking to Abraham], “Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they well be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years.” God’s reasons for allowing this ordeal were only revealed through the hindsight of history. However, as always, they were completely righteous. God shows here and in so many other places in the Scriptures how very seriously He takes His covenant promises. His compassion can’t be missed.
If we ever had any question about whether God would abandon us, take comfort in reading IS 49: 14-16. “But the people of Jerusalem said, ‘The Lord has abandoned us! He has forgotten us.’ So the Lord answers, ‘Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you. Jerusalem, I can never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands.’” As I have mentioned so often, Gentile believers are now considered part of this right along with Jewish believers, because they have been “in-grafted” into the Body of Christ [RO 11: 16-24]. IS 31: 4 offers support and illumination for God’s attitude toward the “city on a hill” from which His light will eventually shine for forever. “The Lord said to me [Isaiah], ‘No matter how shepherds yell and shout, they cannot scare away a lion from an animal that it has killed; in the say way, there is nothing that can keep Me, the Lord Almighty, from protecting Mount Zion.” More support is offered in PS 2: 6, “On Zion, My sacred hill,’ He says, ‘I have installed My King.’” With deeply spiritual understanding, David also expresses what should give us great comfort as we wage our battles against evil in PS 9: 9-12, “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a place of safety in times of trouble. Those who know You, Lord, will trust You; You do not abandon anyone who comes to You. Sing praise to the Lord, Who rules in Zion! Tell every nation what He has done! God remembers those who suffer; He does not forget their cry, and He punishes those who wrong them.”
God is there to provide the help we need, both in physical battles and in verbal ones. I keep returning to that miraculous battle in 2 CH 20: 1-23 so often, the battle between the Jews under King Jehoshaphat against the marauding Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites, because it so plainly shows what reverence for and obedience to God can bring. You’ll remember that the Jewish king and his soldiers prayed, fasted, and praised God before this battle was to take place. The Levite, Jahaziel, upon whom the Spirit of God had come, told the king and his soldiers, (15, 17) “The Lord says that you must bot be discouraged or be afraid to face this large army. The battles depends on God, not on you. Attack them tomorrow…You will not have to fight this battle. Just take up your positions and wait; you will see the Lord give you victory. People of Judah and Jerusalem, do not hesitate or be afraid. Go out to battle, and the Lord will be with you.” The king told his men in (20b), “Men of Judah and Jerusalem! Put your trust in the Lord your God, and you will stand your ground. Believe what the prophets tell you, and you will succeed.” These were bold words of faith, words that told the truth. In (22) we see what God can do. “When they began to sing, the Lord threw the invading armies into a panic.” Yes, these three armies began attacking each other, and the Jews were spared even having to fight that battle! It just makes PR 21: 1 so visibly true. “The Lord controls the mind of a king as easily as He directs the course of a stream.”
Any believer who has ever been sucked into an argument about his beliefs knows he is on the front lines of a battle with people led by their flesh. It’s not a comfortable place to be, having to defend the faith that God has given us with an unbeliever. However, we don’t go to this battle alone either. IS 54: 17, [God speaking] “But no weapon will be able to hurt you; you will have an answer for all who accuse you. I will defend My servants and give them victory.” How very well that goes hand in hand with 2 COR 10: 4-5 in which Paul is giving us essentially the same message. That’s a very salient argument for us spending time each day in the Scriptures and having an active prayer life. Yes, I know I’ve been saying this repeatedly, but God leads me to stress how much this matters to Him, and no human opinion matters nearly as much as God’s of what we do. We should take comfort in the presence of God in our lives and in His word. We should be willing to obey His commands at the time and in the way He directs. His greatest desire is to bless us with proximity, fellowship, and joy forever.
PRAYER: O Lord, it is so easy for the intensity of our pain to temporarily blind us to Your presence. We have so much trouble accepting the wisdom of Your timing or the way You offer us help. David’s understanding of Your love for each of us is expressed in PS 91: 1-4, “Whoever goes to the Lord for safety, whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty, can say to Him, ‘You are my Defender and Protector. You are my God; in You I trust.’ He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers and from all deadly diseases. He will cover you with His wings; you will be safe in His care; His faithfulness will protect and defend you.” You, Dearest Abba, are our El Shaddai, the God Who is more than enough for us. Your grace is sufficient to supply us with all our needs. 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 of His works.” Today, we acknowledge Your superior wisdom to that of any human. We dedicate ourselves to using the talents You gave us to doing the work to which You have called us, including battling evil. PS 90: 17, And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands.” PS 19: 8 expresses what is in our hearts. “The Lord’s instruction is right; it makes our hearts glad. His commands shine brightly, and they give us light.” We trust You, Dearest Abba, and gladly join You in Your work, accepting the protection and guidance You give us. We stand ready to obey Your commands and to honor You by how we live our lives. In humility, we confess our sins and offer You our worship, adoration, loyalty, diligence, glory, trust, obedience, honor, thanks, and praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
If we look very carefully at 2 CH 20: 1-23, we can see a remarkable battle plan that God has given us, one that pleases Him. We can apply this to our lives today in the battles we fight with Satan. That will be the subject of tomorrow’s message. Remember the story of David and Goliath? The odds from a human standpoint against David were terrible. But David had God beside Him to deal with the giant, and we all know who prevailed. It’s the same way with us today. The odds may be against us in our battles, but when we are on God’s side of things, we can take comfort in His protection as well as be guided to victory by His direction. Our God is a very “hands on” God. He seeks a personal and very active, dynamic relationship with each of us. When we open our hearts to Him, He is greatly pleased by that. It is particularly sweet to Him when we have previously lived lives in which Satan had a stronghold. It means that person has come a long way to opening his heart to the Lord. But, lest the quiet person who came to faith without all those complications think he doesn’t matter to the Lord, let him be corrected in that thought. Each of us who believes, no matter what our personal experience and background is, is considered a treasure to be adored by our God. His love is boundless when we endure in faith. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn