"Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist... By your patience possess your souls." Luke 21:14-15, 19 NKJV
These words are couched right in the middle of prophecy. Jesus is talking to people who will see these things fulfilled within a generation then reflected again in the latter days with their children's children. The concept is referred to as 'The Dual Fulfillment of Prophecy' and it is worthy of study because much begins to make sense once you apply it it to the scriptures involving the end times.
"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." Luke 21:32-36 NKJV
Prophecy has an echo. Something happens now in the hearers lifetime and then later again in an amplified way. It this case it would be trouble that echoed.
History is an echo chamber but our soul does not have to be. We don't have to replay our words again and again in our minds reviewing what we have said or will say. Patience quiets the self reflected noise. God's Word echos in powerful ways outwardly and ours does not have to inwardly.
Inner recriminations and rehearsals exhaust us and make us look for the external relief that non-thinking 'carousing' brings. They become weights we look to be relieved of. Instead of inner self talk we can communicate with God. We cast our care upon Him. In humility we ask for direction in confidence.
"They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience." 1 Timothy 3:9 ESV
This verse speaks of people who do work related to the church but it applies to all of us.
We can possess our souls in patience when God's words have made their way inside our thinking. Faith can be held on to. This involves our will, a kind of Christ oriented focus and settled decision making (reckoning) that someone who has a living Spirit has rights to participate in. A natural person can believe in themselves or something else with limited power. A spiritual person invests faith and is held by the power of the One they believe in.
Quietness inside is a possession that we don't have to relinquish. Forces try to wrestle it from our grasp but we possess it by faith as we possess our own soul.
Let's fight the good fight of settled faith today. God wants us to have all that He has given.
No comments:
Post a Comment