To be utterly transparent... I dropped the ball on something important this week. It happens. Sure, There were obstacles but if my priorities had been right I could have overcomes those obstacles. They weren't correct and I didn't have the momentum I needed to be where I needed to be.
As I sit here rebounding with God in preparation for dealing with the person I let down this passage came to mind...
(Stephen gave a long speech that I left out because it is Jesus I am focusing on)
"Stephen said: "Brothers and fathers, hear me...
Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, 'Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' " - Acts 7:1-2a, 54-56 ESV
Jesus positioned Himself to be there in Stephen's time of need.
He Is where He Is right now because that is the perfect position to be there for us when it counts.
Jesus sits in Heaven now as our High Priest.
"...since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens." - Hebrews 7:25b-26 ESV
His priority system is perfect. He may not act when you want Him to act but He will always show Himself faithful at the key times when it counts.
Some of us are more faithful than others...
"Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find? The righteous who walks in his integrity - blessed are his children after him!" - Proverbs 20:6-7 ESV
Yes.
I look at Jesus this morning and I ask God to teach me. There is no condemnation.
Jesus' positioning is on our 'account' if we have believed in Him.
"But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness," - Romans 4:5 NKJV
It other words we don't strive to please God. God is pleased with those who believe in Christ. God has 'placed' believers right where they need to be.
I want to think like Jesus thinks so that I can be in the right place at the right time here on Earth. I want to think 'with' God. God is already pleased. Now I want to represent Him so that others will see His attributes on display.
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Showing posts with label Faithfulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faithfulness. Show all posts
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Reading And Rereading Jeremiah Chapter 30 - 31
This morning I am reading chapter 30 and 31 of Jeremiah and I am marveling at God's mind.
There is so much here in these chapters. His people are in a bad state but God doesn't abandon them. He Is neither liberal or conservative. I read it again and again and I marvel at the loyal unsentimental love of God for His people.
"The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.' These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:" - Jeremiah 30:1-4 ESV
What comes after this is really shocking. Israel and Judah are almost described as rebellious teenagers who keep getting in trouble and God is a Father who Is determined to see His child grow up into a prosperous adult.
This book was written long ago but Israel was in the news just this week and will be again and again. That land is our object lesson. Those people are God's people.
Amazing.
One thought before I close...
"Thus says the LORD: 'Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country. I have heard Ephraim grieving,
'You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God. For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'
Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD." - Jeremiah 31:16-20 ESV
The KJV has Ephraim saying 'turn me and I will be turned' and I like that phrase.
We all need restoration from time to time. We need God to change our mind.
"For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." - Romans 7:19 ESV
We need restoration. We need grace. We need someone who is never ever going to give up on us.
God is that person. Jesus came from Heaven to connect us to the God who will never give up on us.
Thank You Lord. You are the one who restores. You are the Saviour. You are the gentle healer.
Restore Lord! Restore us. Restore the people around us. Turn the stubborn. Bring us into the land that is our heritage. Thank You Lord.
--
There is so much here in these chapters. His people are in a bad state but God doesn't abandon them. He Is neither liberal or conservative. I read it again and again and I marvel at the loyal unsentimental love of God for His people.
"The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.' These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:" - Jeremiah 30:1-4 ESV
What comes after this is really shocking. Israel and Judah are almost described as rebellious teenagers who keep getting in trouble and God is a Father who Is determined to see His child grow up into a prosperous adult.
This book was written long ago but Israel was in the news just this week and will be again and again. That land is our object lesson. Those people are God's people.
Amazing.
One thought before I close...
"Thus says the LORD: 'Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country. I have heard Ephraim grieving,
'You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God. For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'
Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD." - Jeremiah 31:16-20 ESV
The KJV has Ephraim saying 'turn me and I will be turned' and I like that phrase.
We all need restoration from time to time. We need God to change our mind.
"For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." - Romans 7:19 ESV
We need restoration. We need grace. We need someone who is never ever going to give up on us.
God is that person. Jesus came from Heaven to connect us to the God who will never give up on us.
Thank You Lord. You are the one who restores. You are the Saviour. You are the gentle healer.
Restore Lord! Restore us. Restore the people around us. Turn the stubborn. Bring us into the land that is our heritage. Thank You Lord.
--
Thursday, March 17, 2016
When The Veils Are Lifted
It seems that human beings have perfect memories. Recall is faulty but memory is perfect. Imagine with me if all that is invisible to us now is still being recorded but is as yet undeveloped like film in a camera. Angels are seen by us and God is speaking to us now. Darkness is seducing and angels preserving and protecting. It is invisible to us like ultraviolet is invisible. Recorded by our eyes, ears and other senses but not registering in our conscious mind.
The believer's life ends and angels carry him or her to God. Unbelievers die and their heavy unwashed soul descends into the depths. Thick darkness covers the mind of one and light begins to develops the film of the other. Angels become present in our memory because they were there all along. We see God's work and hear what He was whispering to us pre-salvation and post-salvation. Our memory will be redeemed. Amazing.
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV
When we are finally face to face He will suddenly become an old friend. To the person in Hell He will be an ancient enemy who chased them their whole life but to those who believed He will be a precious friend who loved them even when they themselves were an enemy of God.
Angels will not be strange. They will be wonderfully familiar beings we remember from childhood who lingered with us faithfully for decades.
One day every veil will either be lifted or our eyes will be permanently darkened.
I choose light. I opted to let the blood of Christ wash me in 1992. I accepted Jesus and my eternal destiny was changed. Jesus is redemption personified. Anyone can choose to believe. Anyone who does believe is guaranteed future clarity beyond what we can imagine now... clarity beyond what any of us can ask for or think of. Hope for the future and illumination of the past.
Wow.
--
The believer's life ends and angels carry him or her to God. Unbelievers die and their heavy unwashed soul descends into the depths. Thick darkness covers the mind of one and light begins to develops the film of the other. Angels become present in our memory because they were there all along. We see God's work and hear what He was whispering to us pre-salvation and post-salvation. Our memory will be redeemed. Amazing.
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV
When we are finally face to face He will suddenly become an old friend. To the person in Hell He will be an ancient enemy who chased them their whole life but to those who believed He will be a precious friend who loved them even when they themselves were an enemy of God.
Angels will not be strange. They will be wonderfully familiar beings we remember from childhood who lingered with us faithfully for decades.
One day every veil will either be lifted or our eyes will be permanently darkened.
I choose light. I opted to let the blood of Christ wash me in 1992. I accepted Jesus and my eternal destiny was changed. Jesus is redemption personified. Anyone can choose to believe. Anyone who does believe is guaranteed future clarity beyond what we can imagine now... clarity beyond what any of us can ask for or think of. Hope for the future and illumination of the past.
Wow.
--
Thursday, March 3, 2016
The God Who Can
Many times the Bible uses what some scholars call the 'prophetic tense.'
"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." - Isaiah 43:25 ESV
The cross had not happened yet in Isaiah's day. The writer speaks of something in the past tense that has not happened yet.
" 'I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel. Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited,' and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins'; who says to the deep, 'Be dry; I will dry up your rivers'; who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid.' " - Isaiah 44:22-28 ESV
You can say that this prophetic tense is based on foreknowledge and it is but there is also a sense of God's competence and faithfulness.
"The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation," - 2 Samuel 22:47 ESV
"The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble." - Psalm 37:39 ESV
"Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death." - Psalm 68:20 ESV
Salvation is 'of the Lord'.
My God is a God who gets things done. That is comforting to me this morning. Salvation from Hell and citizenship in Heaven are things that are utterly beyond me in some ways but there are very real things to face in the coming days and years.
I want my niece and nephew to to have safe and happy lives. I want my friend to find a good place to live. I want to see some men go forward in their calling and stop playing around and wasting time. I want health and comfort for people. I want to see evil momentum halted and reversed in the place where I live. I want a good job in a city that doesn't have a Church from my particular ministry so that a Church can be planted in that place.
I can't buy a ticket to Heaven. That is beyond me. God had to orchestrate that or it wouldn't have happened. I can buy tickets to other places but these things I want are still impossible for me. I can take steps but I can't make things like that happen. God must do them.
Fortunately I have a sovereign saving God. Jesus touched people and made them whole. He said that He came to be a ransom for many and He did it. He got it done. He didn't fail.
"...for the righteous falls seven times and rises again..." - Proverbs 24:16a ESV
Why does this righteous person get up? He or she does because they have 'right standing' with the God who gets things done.
It is easy to look at ourselves and say, 'Look at me. I can't.'
Why should that matter? I can't get to Heaven either. I wouldn't know where to start to even find Heaven. God is going to get me there.
"The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit." - James 5:16b-18 ESV
My plan today is to be a good steward of what I have been given and to pray to the God who gets things done and believe that He will be faithful far beyond my effort.
--
"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." - Isaiah 43:25 ESV
The cross had not happened yet in Isaiah's day. The writer speaks of something in the past tense that has not happened yet.
" 'I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel. Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited,' and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins'; who says to the deep, 'Be dry; I will dry up your rivers'; who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid.' " - Isaiah 44:22-28 ESV
You can say that this prophetic tense is based on foreknowledge and it is but there is also a sense of God's competence and faithfulness.
"The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation," - 2 Samuel 22:47 ESV
"The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble." - Psalm 37:39 ESV
"Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death." - Psalm 68:20 ESV
Salvation is 'of the Lord'.
My God is a God who gets things done. That is comforting to me this morning. Salvation from Hell and citizenship in Heaven are things that are utterly beyond me in some ways but there are very real things to face in the coming days and years.
I want my niece and nephew to to have safe and happy lives. I want my friend to find a good place to live. I want to see some men go forward in their calling and stop playing around and wasting time. I want health and comfort for people. I want to see evil momentum halted and reversed in the place where I live. I want a good job in a city that doesn't have a Church from my particular ministry so that a Church can be planted in that place.
I can't buy a ticket to Heaven. That is beyond me. God had to orchestrate that or it wouldn't have happened. I can buy tickets to other places but these things I want are still impossible for me. I can take steps but I can't make things like that happen. God must do them.
Fortunately I have a sovereign saving God. Jesus touched people and made them whole. He said that He came to be a ransom for many and He did it. He got it done. He didn't fail.
"...for the righteous falls seven times and rises again..." - Proverbs 24:16a ESV
Why does this righteous person get up? He or she does because they have 'right standing' with the God who gets things done.
It is easy to look at ourselves and say, 'Look at me. I can't.'
Why should that matter? I can't get to Heaven either. I wouldn't know where to start to even find Heaven. God is going to get me there.
"The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit." - James 5:16b-18 ESV
My plan today is to be a good steward of what I have been given and to pray to the God who gets things done and believe that He will be faithful far beyond my effort.
--
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
A Special Brand Of 'Don't Quit!'
'Don't quit!'
I love to hear that phrase but at the same time I understand as I get older that there are several kinds of attitudes that can make living that phrase a reality.
Pride has a kind of faithfulness and steely strength that won't bend, move or stop because it will lose something or being lessened in someone else's eyes. Pride just won't be the first one to quit because it thinks it is better.
But, There is another kind of 'don't quit' this one is gentle and draws no attention to itself at all.
"For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord." - Ephesians 5:8-10 ESV
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit." - Galatians 5:22-25 ESV
I want my 'yes' to be 'yes' and my 'no' to be a big fat 'no'. I for one want to quit everything that is dark and keep in step with what is in the light. Pride won't let me quit but I must. God has given me something wondrous to say 'yes' to.
Faithfulness is the 'don't quit' I desire to live in. But, I've seen the faithfulness born or pride and not born as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is arrogant. If I point the finger anywhere it isn't going to be outward. I am the man. I am the bull who sometimes goes but knocks people over going. I am the one who won't quit because he doesn't want to be a quitter.
Oh, But then I see Jesus.
He is just over there. He is just behind the closed door. He Is worshiping in the chapel. He is standing in the place where we don't have a church yet. He is in each room looking at people and loving them. He Is with me but He Is also just over there... a few steps past me... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are just over there waiting to born into the world.
I can't quit. I want to be there with Him. My wife needs a husband. My mother needs a son. My sister needs a brother. People need a preacher. That place needs a Church. A dead building on each corner won't cut it. They need a living Church. People need to see Him and then some will also drop their nets and follow Him once they see the power that is there in Him.
Jesus the eternal One never quits because He would have to affected by time and space and to do that. He would have to change or be discouraged and He never does either of those things. He Is ever and always faithful. Basking in His light we never need to stop. There is new life in every step.
--
I love to hear that phrase but at the same time I understand as I get older that there are several kinds of attitudes that can make living that phrase a reality.
Pride has a kind of faithfulness and steely strength that won't bend, move or stop because it will lose something or being lessened in someone else's eyes. Pride just won't be the first one to quit because it thinks it is better.
But, There is another kind of 'don't quit' this one is gentle and draws no attention to itself at all.
"For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord." - Ephesians 5:8-10 ESV
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit." - Galatians 5:22-25 ESV
I want my 'yes' to be 'yes' and my 'no' to be a big fat 'no'. I for one want to quit everything that is dark and keep in step with what is in the light. Pride won't let me quit but I must. God has given me something wondrous to say 'yes' to.
Faithfulness is the 'don't quit' I desire to live in. But, I've seen the faithfulness born or pride and not born as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is arrogant. If I point the finger anywhere it isn't going to be outward. I am the man. I am the bull who sometimes goes but knocks people over going. I am the one who won't quit because he doesn't want to be a quitter.
Oh, But then I see Jesus.
He is just over there. He is just behind the closed door. He Is worshiping in the chapel. He is standing in the place where we don't have a church yet. He is in each room looking at people and loving them. He Is with me but He Is also just over there... a few steps past me... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are just over there waiting to born into the world.
I can't quit. I want to be there with Him. My wife needs a husband. My mother needs a son. My sister needs a brother. People need a preacher. That place needs a Church. A dead building on each corner won't cut it. They need a living Church. People need to see Him and then some will also drop their nets and follow Him once they see the power that is there in Him.
Jesus the eternal One never quits because He would have to affected by time and space and to do that. He would have to change or be discouraged and He never does either of those things. He Is ever and always faithful. Basking in His light we never need to stop. There is new life in every step.
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