2003-03-13
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Earlier, I wrote about one of the steps in how defensive prayer works as being: 3) Know God’s plan. Today, the Holy Spirit leads me to elaborate on what I said before. EPH 3: 3-6, “God revealed His secret plan and made it known to me. (I [Paul] have written briefly about this, and if you will read what I have written, you can learn about my understanding of the secret of Christ.) In past times mankind was not told this secret, but God has revealed it now by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets. The secret is that by means of the Gospel the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in God’s blessings; they are members of the same body and share in the promise that God made through Christ Jesus.” Several messages ago, I wrote about what Gnosticism is. This false teaching believed that something called “the Christ” remained with Jesus only until his physical death and then departed from Him. Moreover, this apostasy believed that only people who learned the secret knowledge of their false teaching could be saved. You’ll remember that the Greek word for “knowledge” is “gnosis,” from which this blasphemy gets its name. I mention this again, because Paul knew at the time he was writing his epistles that he should have great concern for the early church holding true to its faith in Christ and not letting the stain of this man-centered thinking creep into its beliefs. When 2 TIM 1: 13-14 speaks of “guarding the Treasure entrusted,” it was Paul’s way of saying, be sure to learn, believe, and transmit the Gospel with accuracy.
Verse 6 in this Ephesians passage points out that God only holds back on important revelations of His plan until the time is perfect, that is, when people are ready to hear and get the maximum faith-building impact from them. God has done that throughout mankind’s history. As far back as DT 29: 29, we see this point. “There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret; but He has revealed His Law, and we are to obey it forever.” In no way is God’s teaching meant to form a secret society the way Gnosticism did. The startling revelation that is in (6) is not that God has given up on the Jews either. That’s the claptrap that those who adhere to replacement theology would have us believe. RO 1: 16 clarifies this issue. “I have complete confidence in the Gospel; it is God’s power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles.” God loves all of His children, and His desire is to bring as many of them back to Him as will listen to the truth, believe it, and endure in their faith against the dirty work of the forces of evil. Keeping alert and cognizant of God’s plan at all times is essential to our knowing God’s will and obeying His commands effectively. It gives us His perspective, so we don’t fall into the trap discussed in PR 3: 5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember that Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way.” Some of the Bible versions use these words, “He will make your crooked paths straight.” The trap to be avoided, of course, is relying on human understanding. God knows we have limitations, and we should accept that and lean on Him instead.
There is another reason that God holds back on revelation of certain things until His time arrives. This is outlined in EPH 3: 9-10, “…and of making all people see how God’s secret plan is to be put into effect. God, Who is the Creator of all things, kept His secret hidden through all the past ages, in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of His wisdom in all its different forms.” This was His eternal purpose; there was nothing accidental about it. Through the obedience of the church, heavenly angels were learning God’s will and how His mystery works out in practice. Unsaved people can not be expected to understand the stewardship of God’s mystery [1 COR 2: 14]. God always intended to reveal this plan at the time He chose to do it. That revelation began at the first Advent of Christ. The net result of God’s great sacrifice of His Son was the establishment of the church, the Body of Christ. It is intended to be made up of both Jews and Gentiles who would live their faith and spread it to as many unsaved people as would listen. That is why Christ gives us the Great Commission in MT 28: 19-20. A bride for Christ is what God wanted. We see this in a citation of AMOS 9: 11-12 found in AC 15: 16-17. “After this I will return, says the Lord, and restore the kingdom of David. I will rebuild its ruins and make it strong again. And so all the rest of mankind will come to Me, all the Gentiles whom I have called to be My own.” And thus, we are brought back to the precious topic of God claiming ownership of all believers. That, Dear Ones, is the greatest blessing of our lives! We can rest assured that when this has happened, we are equipped, empowered, and authorized to win the victory over Satan and revel in the bliss of eternal life with the Father Who loves us so very much. We must examine what this truth means to us today.
PRAYER: O Lord, Your word was never written just to be an academic exercise, a head trip without a heart attitude. As we learn more about Your plan for us, we can begin to understand that it was devised for our welfare, as well as for You to get Your work accomplished. We are often reached through the pain, disappointments, and loss that we suffer. But, You don’t leave us dangling in the wind. Instead, You give us Your perspective, which is always better than ours, on what is happening to us. We don’t have to feel discouraged, which is why the Psalmist wrote, in PS 43: 5, “Why am I discouraged? Why so sad I will put my hope in God!” Instead, we can turn to You and sing the words of PS 59: 16, “But as for me, I will sing about Your power. I will shout with joy each morning because of Your unfailing love. For You have been my Refuge, a place of safety in the day of distress.” When we plead to You for an answer to our supplications, the timing of Your answer is always perfect, even when we have a hard time seeing this. David used the wisdom You gave Him to teach us to sing PS 27: 14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let you heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.” Dearest Father, You know the waiting is hard for us, but Your knowledge of Your righteous plan for us is so much higher and better than ours. You are so merciful to those that await eternal life with You in heaven. The Psalmist reminds us of this in PS 86: 5, “For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on You.” And so, we call on You today to give us a more profound understanding of the details of Your plan for us. We rest on the assurance that You gave us in JER 29: 11-13 that Your plan for us is not disaster, but prosperity, and that You are eager for us to seek You out, so that You can be there to help us along that hard path that leads to eternal life. We pray and pray often. We dedicate ourselves to daily study of Your word, and most of all, we thank You for sending Your Son to earth and to the cross, so that we can enjoy the blessings of peace and salvation. We humbly confess our sins and offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, glory, honor, thanks, and utmost praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to continue writing about how defensive prayer works, beginning with a discussion of EPH 3 :12-13. The careful, prayerful, and thoughtful examination of these verses from EPH 1 & 3 have revealed some hidden spiritual treasure that can be life-altering. I stand amazed at how many times I personally have returned to previously read citations when God had something new for me to learn. Until and maybe even after the Day when we hear that last shofar (trumpet) and are called to a meeting in the air with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ [1 THESS 4: 13-17], I hope that God will keep on teaching His children more and more about His will for us. How comforting it is to know that being like Paul, “a bondservant to Christ set apart for the Gospel” [RO 1: 1] continues to be such a joy. I know that this could only be true if our God was always righteous, always true, and always compassionate. He is so patient with our imperfections, as long as we strive to get rid of them. When we are in pain, He is there to offer us encouragement and perspective on our trouble. When a faithful person dies physically, we can pray with confidence that the Father takes them gently to heaven, fully heals them, and walks hand in hand on streets of gold with them forever. If we steadfastly endure the trials of our lives, we can know that our separation from our faithful loved ones who have departed this way is only temporary. These are the thoughts the Lord has given me, as I prepare to attend the funeral of a dear friend’s father this week. What a kind and loving God our awesome Deity is. Peter and I send each of you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn