2003-03-03
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Yesterday, when the Spirit led me to write about what happens when we neglect prayer, it was clear to see how crucial clinging to God is when something very important to God is to happen. We don’t always see how important to God some of the seemingly small challenges to our faith are. Certainly, Paul and the others in the early church couldn’t assess the total impact over history that establishing the church might have. Moses might have felt that being the one to lead the Jews out of slavery in Egypt was important, but he had no idea that God was going to give him the Law until he was up on Mt. Sinai. Even after he had the Law to give the people, he had no idea what its total impact on history and spiritual life of mankind it would have. Yet, both of these men and a number of others have obediently followed God’s commands to the great benefit of mankind. Rest assured that prayer and their willingness to pray had a big part in it, just as it always does in anything God does that will benefit the course of mankind.
Anyone being asked to do change his life by repenting, coming to faith in Christ, and living a very different life than he has had before needs motivation. God understands this, so He gives it to us in RO 8: 28-30, “We know that in all things God works for good with those who love Him, those whom He has called according to His purpose. Those whom God had already chosen He also set apart to become like His Son, so that the Son would be the first among many brothers. And so those whom God set apart, He called and those He called He put right with Himself, and He shared His glory with them.” This is a wonderfully concise statement of the hope that we, who endure in our faith, hold. I’ve often written about the significance of Christ’s being the “first among many brothers.” That is, He is the first to be resurrected from death to eternal life, and those who endure in faith and then die, will also be resurrected to eternal life. That’s only the first amazing truth here. The second one is that God will share His glory with us. In other words, nothing that Satan does while we were on earth to challenge the faith of those who endure in it will stop us from receiving “resurrection bodies,” bodies which are changed from mortal to immortal [1 COR 15: 42-54], and from enjoying eternal bliss with the Father.
We are commanded to pray often, and it is clear that our willingness to pray is important to the Father. EPH 6: 18-20 not only gives this command, but shows us, through Paul’s example, where our prayers can lead us into the heart of God’s work, work He is eager for us to do. “Do all this [donning God’s full armor] in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God’s people. And pray also for me [Paul], that God will give me a message when I am ready to speak, so that I may speak boldly and make known the Gospel’s secret. For the sake of this Gospel I am an ambassador, though now I am in prison. Pray that I may be bold in speaking about the Gospel as I should.” I like to look at this passage to see how it applies directly to each of us. We have been asked to be God’s “ambassadors” here on earth, while we await passage to our place of citizenship-heaven. As for the prison we are in, for now, we are “tent-dwellers” in a world filled with evil and getting more evil as each day arrives. In enduring in our trust, obedience, and faith in Christ, we are insuring that our “sentence” in this prison is very temporary. God has asked us to help free other “prisoners” around us, those who have not yet had a chance to hear His message of salvation and peace and those whose faith needs to be strengthened. Satan will put up resistance, but we are more than fitted to push his resistance back. Our loving Abba has seen to that. We must keep alert and never give up, pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads, and we must pray for all people, even our enemies [MT 5: 44-45].
If we ever wondered how does God feel about us doing all of this, we need only look at what is said in IS 52: 7 [KJV], “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion Thy God reigneth!” Somehow, I never tire of hearing the words of the citations in this message today. They keep me aware of the God’s big picture and His profound love for each of us. They give me motivation to endure whatever challenges to my faith that Satan sends. Last night, I attended a class taught by a pastor who spoke about the higher standard to which any leader in the church, pastor, teacher, elder, or whoever, is held. There can be only one explanation for this-that person influences many more people than the average person does. Thus, any errors on his/her part have deeper adverse consequences to the community in general. That same higher standard applies to each of us who obey God’s call to become His “ambassadors” on earth, because we too, influence others. As we examine our individual lives today, we must give deep consideration to 1 COR 9: 25. “Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline, in order to be crowned with a wreath that will not last; but we do it for the one that will last forever.”
PRAYER: O Lord, the more we study Your word, the more we realize how very dependant on You we are. That is not a reason for us to feel powerless; instead, we feel greatly blessed. Part of that blessing is the union that exists between Christ and ourselves, a union which You have forged for our salvation, empowerment, and protection. PHIL 4: 13, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.” We can’t claim to already be perfected, but in accordance with PHIL 3: 12-14, we are motivated to strive toward that. “I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to Himself. Of course, my brothers, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above [the one He maps out for us].” You have called us to pray and pray often without giving up or refusing to pray for certain people. Just as You have commanded us to love our enemies, so we dedicate ourselves to also praying for them and all who are yet unsaved. It is our hope that their hearts will be softened to the salvation and reconciliation with You that the Gospel offers. When Paul wrote to the Romans, his words were what You have given him for them and for all of us. RO 10: 9-13, “If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved. The Scripture [IS 28: 16] says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ This includes everyone, because there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles; God is the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call to him. As the Scripture [JL 2: 32] says, ‘Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.’” We pray for those as yet unsaved, just as we do for those who we know and love or who are in need. Humbly, we confess our sins and offer You the adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, glory, honor, thanks and praise, which You so richly deserve. In Christ’s name, amen.
I am led to begin tomorrow’s message writing about the transmission of sound doctrine and to begin on defensive and offensive prayer. In the beginning of my own personal experience with prayer, I really didn’t understand the power behind it. It was kind of like doing something because the people I respected were doing it, a head trip without heart involvement. But, the Father and the Son were patient with me, and they, through the Holy Spirit, soon caused me to see what ongoing prayer can do in the lives of others. Being the imperfect human that I am, I needed to see what it could do in my own life. The message I wrote a couple of days ago outlines the profound affect it has had on this skeptical, and all-too-often cynical person. It’s like the Father is shaping and polishing a very rough crystal, one in which He sees more value than I do at times. When He is done and the crystal is perfected, the light of His glory will shine through. He is doing that with all of us, because His love for each of us is so deep and abiding. That is what I believe what makes us the blessed people we are. Peter and I send you each our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn