“And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him…”
prayer
God was with Him in The Garden alone
Jesus conquered by strength divine
But the separation went deeper than bone
As the battle began; God drew the line
The Father didn’t want to remove the cup
The disciples slept from sorrows and fear
While Gabriel came to lift Jesus up
His sweat poured out as blood and tear
As crises supreme did heart and soul break
Jesus came alone to fight by petition there
The angel assured Him He made no mistake
For now He might answer the sinner’s prayer
We all have to go to The Garden alone
We have to bring all the worry and care
For when we go we glimpse the throne
Yes, in The Garden, our Lord is there
Jesus conquered by strength not His own
And we can have that encounter today
As we go by faith to our Garden alone
To walk with Him, the blood-stained way.
– by David T Battler, all rights reserved, worldwide
“Christ conquered in divine strength, and so must every tempted soul overcome. God was with Christ in The Garden of Gesthemane; and by this experience of Christ, we are to learn to trust our Heavenly Father at all times and in all places. We are to believe that He is tender and true and faithful; able to keep that which is committed to His care. In the agonizing struggle of Christ our Substitute and Surety, the Father was beside His Son; and He is beside every soul that struggles with discouragement and difficulty.”
A friend of mine dying of cancer wrote the following words last night:
“looking for an immediate rescue from my painful circumstances, and yet it is often these pains that are expanding my heart to search and find the presence of the God, who is my closest companion and eternal Savior”
As a caregiver in the past, who lost his wife to cancer, I of course felt this kind of painful circumstance acutely at times.
One of the things in Scripture that has helped me a lot is to realize how certain verses can apply to me personally when dealing with grief and sorrow. Part of a verse I read this morning reads like this:
“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you” (Joshua 1:3)
As a Christian, I am finding that besides the literal ground, not occupied for Christ, there is also the often unclaimed territory of the un-trodden land of divine promise. Thats why, I think, God said this to Joshua. “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, THAT I have given to you.” And then God drew the outlines of the land of promise, and said it is all yours, on one condition. That you shall measure it off using your own feet, by walking completely through the whole length and breadth of the promised land.
But the people then never did that to more than about one-third of all that property, and as a result they never had more than just one third. They had only what they measured off, and no more.
In Hebrews 11:9 we hear about the “land of promise,” that God always opens up to us. I have come to see it as God’s will that we should, as it were, also measure off THAT territory by the “feet” of trusting faith, and believing obedience (to His call). And in Jesus, claiming and appropriating ALL of God’s promises for our very own “territory.” And that is such a vast, beautiful land to explore with our own two feet!
As we search for the presence of God in our suffering, our grief, we can take possession of God’s promises. What a magnificent “territory” for faith to hold on to and then march right on through the length and breadth of, yet in my struggles, my faith has rarely done it yet.
Let us each enter into all of our inheritance. Let us lift up our eyes in all four directions, and start to measure this “land” by our own two feet, and then rejoice as we hear Him say:
“All the land that you see, I will give to you.”
I once read a beautiful Christian quote that goes like this:
“We should NOW acquaint ourselves with God by proving His promises.” (GC 622)
And surely, as my late wife was dying, as I roiled in acute grief, I remember finding a special promise for every single need that arose out of our sometimes very dire circumstance.
Friends, we are given a very special assurance about God’s promises in His Word:
God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our unhelpful desires and the corrupt influences of this world. [that all in the cancer world would certainly know about]. (2 Pet 1:4)
The power to lead a godly life comes from God. Because we don’t have the resources to be truly godly, God allows us to “share his divine nature” in order to keep us from sin and help us live for him. When we are born again, God by his Spirit empowers us with his own goodness. See John 1:12,John 3:6; John 14:17-23; 2 Cor 5:21; and 1 Pet 1:22-23.
God’s promises gave both my late wife and I a place to rest. A wonderful new land of possibilities to explore together. A new land where we did not have fear or pain. I remember she had been comatose for a week or so, yet when I asked her one day
“if you only had one thing you could say to me “before you go” what would it be sweetie?”
And to my absolute shock and amazement, she sat right up in her bed, she smiled that big cute smile that I loved, and said in a voice too loud for someone ‘as sick as her”
“I WAS LOVED.”
She never spoke another word after that, and she died in my arms shortly after. We still “meet” from time to time as I make periodic forays into that bright, beautiful, verdant “territory” of God’s promise about the resurrection. (1 Thes 4:12-18)
I know that when she was with me that she loved to travel to that place, and measure it off by talking about how wonderful it will be when the resurrection finally happens. She would “measure the whole territory” off by walking me through all of her thoughts about the amazing things she “saw,” and was so looking forward to.
I have to say in conclusion now, that whenever I have measured off the territory of God’s promises with my own two feet, I have always come away from the situation at hand exclaiming:
“I was loved.”
In verity, wherever Judah should set his foot that should be his! Wherever Benjamin should set his foot, that should be his! Each person reading this today should get their personal inheritance by actually setting their own foot upon it. Everyone should take this verse and put their own name into it! Now, think you not, when either had set his foot upon a given territory, he did not instantly and instinctively feel, “This is mine”?
During the endtimes that we are entering now, this is exactly how God’s people will “go in” and each enter their own promise land of God’s promises. There will be no other way to survive it all. The course of God’s people should be upward and onward to victory. A greater than Joshua is leading on the armies of Israel. One is in our midst, even JESUS, the Captain of our salvation, who has said for our encouragement,
“Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” He will lead us on to certain victory. What God promises, He is able at any time to perform. And the work He gives His people to do, He is able to accomplish by them. (Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 122).
I have been asked: “well, David, why is it that you seem to have so much peace and joy in “your religion?”” And I can only reply:
“I just walk into my promised land and measure out with my own two feet, the promise of the resurrection. And praise God, I have ALL that is in THAT promise! I feel rich, beyond measure! And now I have lived experience that has shown how I can “measure out” that divine promise by my own two feet across the entire length and breadth of it knowing how that ALL of the riches this “precious promise” brings is mine.”
NOW I wake up every day thinking:
“I was loved.”
Today, I continue to explore this promised land, measuring God’s promises, and am so blessed to know God is leading me once more to that territory where He has promised rest, quietness, confidence, in the gift of someone to love. He is amazing! Our God is an awesome God!
Thank you Jesus.
PS
After I wrote this article, and shared with my friend in another province who is dying of cancer, he sent me the following poem:
David, here are some great thoughts of comfort in a poem. You will love the last verse!
I Only Know I’m Loved
’When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not shouting, “I’ve been saved!”
I’m whispering, “I get lost sometimes
That’s why I chose this way”
When I say, “I am a Christian”
I don’t speak with human pride
I’m confessing that I stumble –
needing God to be my guide
When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not trying to be strong
I’m professing that I’m weak
and pray for strength to carry on
When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not bragging of success
I’m admitting that I’ve failed
and cannot ever pay the debt
When I say, “I am a Christian”
I don’t think I know it all
I submit to my confusion
asking humbly to be taught
When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are far too visible
but God believes I’m worth it
When I say, “I am a Christian”
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartache
which is why I seek God’s name
When I say, “I am a Christian”
I do not wish to judge
I have no authority
I only know I’m loved’
“I showed before him my trouble.” (Psalms 142:1-2)
“I cry out to the LORD. I beg the LORD to help me. I tell him my problems;I tell him about my troubles. .” (Psalms 142:1-2, ERV)
In His Tine
Exactly what the trouble of the psalmist was it is impossible for us to say. His trouble was clear, very bitter, hard to swallow. An overwhelmed spirit was the result. A determined resolve to tell the Lord his problems was borne of this anguish. Talking to Jesus as a Friend the solution. The automatic response.
We may also infer from what the Bible says about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7 ) that there is a lot we don’t know about it. There is much we cannot know about our own trials. Our pain. Our grief. Let alone anyone elses. Paul’s thorn in the flesh predicament suggests that some things are always confusing. Jesus says
“You don’t know what I am doing now. But later you will understand.” (John 13:7)
Under The Cloud.
We are all under a cloud. We now live “under the shadow of The Almighty.” (Psalms 91:1, ERV) Left to us as a mystery, we are then free to apply this “thorn in the flesh” idea to ourselves. Meaning, the vagueness of the Bible is often of a deliberate intention by the author. In order that we may be able fit ourselves within its words for every variety of human needs that we experience. We expect the vagueness. We act on the opportunity. We respond with gratitude.
God is a shelter, a refuge when we are afraid. The Psalmist felt that his faith in God as protector would carry him through all the dangers and fears of life. This should be a picture of our trust too. Trading all our fears for faith in Jesus. No matter how intense our fears. To do this we must “live” and “rest” with him (Psalms 91:1).
Don’t think there is a plan against you because the people say there is. Don’t be afraid of what they fear. Don’t let them frighten you!” (Isa 8:12, ERV)
Recall how Moses saw a thick dark cloud and he went right into the heart of it! Thats where the Bible said “God was.” (Exodus 19:9)
And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.(Exodus 20:21)
We entrust ourselves to the protection of Jesus. Pledging our daily devotion to Him, we always find that we receive what we need for each situation we are in.
Jesus said, “Let not your heart stay troubled.” Jesus was not contemplating some kind of exemption for His own followers. Jesus knew there would be troubles in their lives; what He enjoined was an untroubled heart. To an untroubled heart amid the thronging troubles of our lives is to be of the same practice of the psalmist.
Showing It Before Him
A courageous person does not show their troubles before all the world. They try to hide them and keep a smiling face for the purpose to not be a discouragement to others. To show before the Lord our troubles in the quiet moment, behind the closed door. That is one of the secrets for “the peace beyond understanding.” ( Phil 4:7)
The Comfort of Having a Friend to Listen
“I have not had a friend for over three years.”
An acquaintance I chatted with last night told me
“I am so lonely. I have not had a friend in over three years.
It was heart breaking to listen to this man say “I have no friends.” I found it very sad. I wondered what it would be like to not have a friend, let alone for three years.
In a special sense, one of the duties of friendship is to lend a listening ear.
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them. (Prov 20:12)
It is an incomparable comfort. When troubles are depressing us to the point where we must have someone in whom we can confide, to sit with us. We could call this comfort a beginning for that “peace that passes our understanding?” (Phil 4:7)
We are born for adversity, There is opportunity and blessing in every trial. While a helping hand may be a blessed thing, (Prov 3:27) a helping heart is often better. We say far more by listening than talking.
If we have someone to open our hearts to we experience the comfort of Jesus. The certainty of perfect understanding, total trust. One of the choicest gifts of human life. Rich or poor. Comfort is welcome. How often we bring comfort by only listening!
The Almighty LORD will teach me what to say, so I will know how to encourage weary people. Morning after morning he will wake me to listen like a student. (Isa 50:4, GW)
There is one major way to listen when talking. And that is by asking questions. This is how one “listens like a student.” (Isa 50:4)
Anyone can live with “good courage.” (Deut 31:6). Discover relief of their trouble. We pour it all out, if only for an minute, into God’s listening and sympathetic ear. Into God’s loving heart.
“Be strong and of a good courage. Fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, He it is that goes with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (Deut 31:6)
Now it was that very easing which David found in God. David showed before God his trouble. He was honest. David did not brood on it in solitary bitterness. Here we see a King. Laying it very quiet before God. No. David’s trouble did not disappear. The trouble didn’t disappear any more than the thorn of the Apostle. David gained a sweet serenity of spirit which made him capable of bearing anything. David talked to God like he would a friend.
And, indeed, that is the real victory of faith and of all who have quieted to wait on God. It may not banish all the trouble, but it always brings the power to bear it in calmness and serenity. There is a deep-rooted feeling in the heart that if we are God’s, we ought to have exemption. From being “under the shadow.” Yet this is where God is. This is where God puts us many times for our own best good.
Troubles That Afflict The Faithless Soul.
People who do not know Jesus are not averted by Christians who are faithful. (Mat 5:45) The sufferings of God’s beloved Son proclaimed that this is so. Everyone, the justified and the unjust suffers similar calamities and blessings. David was not protected from life’s troubles, nor was Paul, or our Blessed Savior. David knew, in all its bitterness, what a thing of trouble our human life may contain.
King David’s victory.
The testimony of all the saints who have learned to show their trouble before God. We see the inward peace that the world can never give and the darkest mile can never take away. (John 14;27) God does not save His children from that dark mile. He saves His children in that dark mile. (Micah 7:8)
Micah showed great faith in God both for himself (Mic 7:7) and on Israel’s behalf. (Mic 7:8-10) As he proclaimed that he would wait upon God. Knowing that God hears and saves when the help requested glorifies God.
There is light in every cloud.
Do you know when God dispatches them, And causes the light of His cloud to shine? (Job 37:15)
Whenever we show our trouble before Jesus, He shows His loving kindness to us. This is our Light. In many remarkable ways. Jesus will keep His people from an embittered heart. Jesus puts beneath them the everlasting arms. (Deut 33:27). Jesus makes people more than conquerors through Christ. (Rom 8:37)
God Cares
King David, like Abraham, had seen the day of Christ. His personal trouble was of concern to God. The Psalmist was comfortable in laying it all out before God. To “show it all before Him.” Hezekiah also found favor before God by doing the same:
Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers. And read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. (2 Kings 19:14)
The people of God are all one mind on this subject. Of one mind. (Zech 7:9, 1 Pet 3:8)
“This is what the LORD All-Powerful said: ‘You must do what is right and fair. You must be kind and show mercy to each other. (Zech 7:9, ERV)
So all you should live together in peace. Try to understand each other. Love each other like brothers and sisters. Be kind and humble. (1 Pet 3:8, ERV)
Throughout the Old Testament, The New Testament. The insistence was always on the majesty of God for true believers. The way believers treat one another shows God’s majesty the best. Nations would be of one mind about the majesty of God. Individuals would reflect this one mind. Like Abraham, Hezekiah, the Psalmist. The nations who sought Gods glory, formed God’s kingdom. In one example Psalms 63:2 David proclaims:
I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.
There is often a troubled and persecuted soul near us. In many nations. In many individuals. It would seem that most believe how the God of all the earth has a heart responsive to their own, personal trouble. They never dream it is a thing too petty for the concern of the infinite Jehovah. With a quiet confidence, like the psalmist, they showed it all before God. To Him who was the Maker of Heaven and Earth.
In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. (Isa 17:7)
The wonderful thing is how this faith of David in the individual loving care of God is evident. It shows confirmation by David’s greater Son. It reveals God’s people, through God’s Word, defeating the forces of darkness.
“…By the blood of the Lamb and by The Word of their testimony.” (Rev 12;11)
Not a sparrow can fall without our Father’s notice and care. The very hairs of our head show how God knows. God cares. God has even counted them! If we, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto our children, how much more our Father?
Though you are evil, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Mat 7:11)
Though you are evil, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)
Would it not be well to cultivate gratitude, and to offer grateful songs of thanksgiving to God? In response to our troubles? As Christians we ought to praise God much more than we do. We ought to bring more of the brightness of His love into our lives.
We should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving His promises. Angels record every prayer that is earnest and sincere. We should rather dispense with selfish gratifications than neglect communion with God. The deepest poverty. The greatest self-denial, with His approval. Is better than riches, honors, ease, and friendship without it. We must take time to pray. If we allow our minds to thrive on worldly interests. The Lord may give us time by removing from us our idols of gold, of houses, or of fertile lands. {GC 622.2}
By faith we look to Jesus. His joy and peace reflect from our own countenances. We should seek so to relate ourselves to God that our faces may reflect the sunshine of His love!
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace. (Num 6:26)
Each soul has an actual lived experience. led by the Holy Spirit. We may exert an uplifting influence upon others who don’t know the joy of Christ’s presence. Said David,
“Come and hear, all who fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul” (Psalms 66:16, 1 John 1:1-3)
In 1 John 1:1-3 John was an eye witness to Jesus’ life. John had lived with Jesus, having personal, physical contact with Jesus. He knew beyond any doubt that Jesus brings light and life. “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of humanity.”
Communion with God imparts to the soul an intimate knowledge of his will. But many who profess the faith know not what true conversion is. They have no experience in communion with the Father through Jesus Christ. They have never felt the power of divine grace to sanctify the heart. Praying. Sinning. Sinning. Praying. Lives full of malice, deceit, envy, jealousy, and self-love. Anything but God’s majesty.
The prayers of this class are an abomination to God. True prayer engages the energies of the soul, and affects the life. (2 Cor 5:17)
WE MUST TAKE TIME TO PRAY.
We should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving His promises. Angels record every prayer that is earnest and sincere. We should rather dispense with selfish gratifications than neglect communion with God. The deepest poverty. The greatest self-denial. With His approval, is better than riches, honors, ease, and friendship without it. We must take time to pray.—(GC 622.)
Anyone can thus pour out their wants before God. And feel the emptiness of everything else under heaven. “All my desire is before thee,” said David, “and my groaning is not hid from thee.”
“My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when must I come and appear before God?” “When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me.” (Psalm 38:9; 42:2, 4)
A Christian can see in that precious teaching, how someone could write in childlike trust:
“I showed before him my trouble.” (Psalms 142:1-2)
“And as soon as the priests…set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off…” (Joshua 3:13)
no fear
The Israelites were eager to enter the Promised Land, conquer nations, and live peacefully. But first they had to cross the flood-level waters of the Jordan River. God gave them specific instructions: In order to cross, the priests had to step into the water. What if these priests had been afraid to take that first step? Often God provides no solution to our problems until we trust him and move ahead with what we know we should do. What are the rivers, or obstacles, in your life? In obedience to God, take that first step.
The people were not to wait in their camps until the way was opened, they were to walk by faith. They were to break camp, pack up their goods, form in line to march, and move down to the very banks of The Jordan before the river would be opened.
If they had come down to the edge of the river and then had stopped for the stream to divide before they stepped into it, they would have waited in vain. They must take one step into the water before the river would be cut off.
We must learn to take God at His Word, and go straight onto the path of duty, even though we may see no way that we could ever go forward. The reason we are so often stopped and discouraged by difficulties is that we expect to see the problems or the threat removed before we try to deal with them.
If we would meet the “iceberg” head on, move straight on in faith, the path would be opened for us. We stand still, waiting for the obstacle to be removed, when we ought to go forward as if there were no obstacles! Because with God there aren’t!
It is unlikely that we have begun to understand the amazing power there is in stillness. I know I am always in such a hurry. I must always be doing something in high gear. So much so to the point where I am often in danger of not giving God a chance to work.
As Christians, we can depend upon it. God would never say to us: “Be still” or “sit still” or “stand still” unless He is going to do something! Something Big! And this is one of my biggest troubles in the Christian life. I keep wanting to do something to be a Christian, to “do God’s work,” when I really need to just slow down, wait, and let Jesus work in me, or in someone or somewhere else. I wonder, how long is it going to take me to learn to sit still, and let God have free course to do something in me. To trust Him to be able to do what I cannot? Do we as Christians really know how still we must be when our likeness is being taken? God has one over riding purpose; that we might be like Jesus. After all, isnt this what a Christian is? Someone who is like Jesus?
One of the most interesting things about this verse today from Isaiah 52:12 is really quite a remarkable revelation. We have all heard the candied mantras of relationship Gurus who say things like “don’t walk behind me and be my follower, don’t walk in front of me and make me follow you, but just walk beside me and be my friend.” But this can sometimes seem a bit like not standing still.It sounds really busy and hectic at times. In our opening text the people were told:
“You will leave Babylon, but they will not force you to leave in a hurry. You will not be forced to run away. The LORD will be in front of you. The God of Israel will be behind you.” (ERV)
What struck me so dramatically here is that the text says God will be BOTH behind and in front of them! And that can mean only one thing, that we, as Christians are surrounded by His love. We are completely surrounded when we follow God’s will. When we “stand still. And “see the salvation of the Lord.” (Exodus 14:13, 2 Chron 20:14) Not just in other people. But us. “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord in YOU.”
Moses was greatly troubled that his people should manifest so little faith in God, notwithstanding they had repeatedly witnessed the manifestation of His power in their behalf. How could they charge upon him the dangers and difficulties of their situation, when he had followed the express command of God? True, there was no possibility of deliverance unless God Himself should interpose for their release; but having been brought into this position in obedience to the divine direction, Moses felt no fear of the consequences. His calm and assuring reply to the people was, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” {PP 284.1}
Completely Surrounded By God’s Love And Caring
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. (Psalm 125:2)
“You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;You surround me with songs of deliverance.” (Psalms 32:7)
“since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1-2)
“For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” (Zech 2:5)
You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.(Psalms 139:5)
Sometimes when we become impatient of standing still, of waiting on God’s time, God’s ways, we can become hostile, despairing, unhappy, or even worse. But God, in His Word is encouraging us to quiet down, to quietly realize that we are surrounded by His love,and we are merely waiting and watching for the wonderful way that God is going to help and rescue us from whatever mess we are in. When it looks like we are trapped by circumstances, the best advice we can know is to simply stand still and watch God rescue us. To watch God do a new thing.
“The Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, says, “If you come back to me you will be saved. Only by remaining calm and trusting in me can you be strong.” But you don’t want to do that.” (Isa 30:15, ERV)
Here, God warned Judah that turning to Egypt and other nations for military might could not save them. Only God could do that. They must wait for him “in quietness and confidence.” No amount of fast talking or hasty activity could speed up God’s grand design. We can have nothing to say to God but thank you. Salvation comes from God alone. (Gal 6:14, Eph 2:13) Because he has saved us, we can trust him and be peacefully confident that he will give us strength to face our difficulties. We should lay aside our well-laid plans and allow Jesus to act.
Perhaps this is why when Johnny Apple Seed was asked what he would do if he learned that Jesus was coming tomorrow, he replied: “I would just keep planting my apple trees.” He knew the secret of Stand Still, Slow Down, Be Quiet.
The whole Bible tells us that true Christians are brand-new people on the inside. The Holy Spirit gives them new life, new purposes, and they are not the same anymore. We are not reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated—we are re-created (new creations), living in vital union with Christ (Col 2:6-7). At conversion we do not merely turn over a new leaf; we begin a new life under a new Master.
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. (Isa 43:19)
“If anyone is in Christ Jesus, ALL things become new.” (2 Cor 5:17)
Are you feeling stuck in a rut? Not sure of God’s will. Then Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet. A new exodus will take place in your life through the new wilderness that The Holy Spirit Himself will lead you to and through. The past miracles that we read about in scripture, all of the previous victories in our lives are nothing compared to what God intends to do for us and in us and through us in the future!
Let us take care that we do not thwart God’s purpose in our lives. We were made to show forth His praise, (Isa 43:21); but we must beware of causing a revoking of His gracious purpose (See Num 14:34, R.V. margin): by prayerlessness, Isa 43:22; by the neglect of little things, Isa 43:23; by the lack of sweetness and tenderness in our disposition, (Isa 43:24).
Christ will be with you as you strive to strengthen your perceptive faculties, that you may more clearly behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. Our stunted faculties that steal away our hope and our direction in life must be aroused. A new thing must happen. The Old Testament scriptures, blending with the New, will be to us in this our day and age as the dawning of a new creation, or as the resurrection of the soul.
Jesus said of the Old Testament Scriptures–and how much more it is true of the New–“They are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). Yes, the whole Bible tells us of Christ. From the first record of creation, for “without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3), to the closing promise, “Behold, I come quickly” (Revelation 22:12), we are reading of His works and listening to His voice, and realizing His will. If you would become acquainted with the Savior, study the Holy Scriptures.
Don’t be afraid or doubt God when it seems your life is nothing but dark clouds of confusion and hardship. A true wilderness experience. It just may be that you are in fact completely surrounded by God’s love as was Moses when he directly, deliberately went right into the dark cloud in his life. Because Moses knew the secret that he was completely surrounded by those clouds, and more importantly, Moses knew that thats exactly, right where God was:
“Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was” (Exodus 20:21).
God still has His hidden secrets, hidden from even the wise and prudent. Do not fear them; be content to accept things that you cannot understand; wait patiently. Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet. Presently He will reveal to you “the treasures of darkness,” the riches of the glory of the mystery. Mystery is only the veil of God’s face. Mystery is the means of God’s “new thing” that He wants to do!
Treasures Of Darkness
Never be afraid to enter the cloud that is settling down on your life. God is in it. (Heb 13:5). Remember, there IS light in every cloud! The other side of your cloud is radiant with God’s glory.
“Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings.”
When you seem loneliest and most forsaken, God is near. God is in the dark cloud. Plunge into the blackness of its darkness without flinching; under the shrouding curtain of His pavilion, when you are completely surrounded, you will find Jesus awaiting you, for He has promised:
I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am [also your God](Isa 45:3, NKJV)
“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden,to subdue nations before him;to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places,that thou mayest know that I,the Lord, which call thee by thy name,am the God of Israel.” (Isa 45:1-3).
Are we just so busy, or so troubled, that we are getting in Gods way? It looks like our Lord wants to do a lot for us, and that we are completely surrounded by the tokens of His divine favor and His “everlasting love.” (Jer 31:3). God always reaches toward his people with kindness motivated by His deep and everlasting love. He is eager to do the best for us if we would only let him. If we would just give it all up. If we would realize that there is nothing we can do. That we are completely surrounded. If we would Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet.
In Scripture we are assured that divine favor would be shown to us, just like the remnant of Judah, in answer to fervent prayer. “I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.”(Jer 29:14,PK 552.3)
Often had Daniel and his companions gone over the prophecies outlining God’s purpose for His people. And just as the rapid course of events signalled the mighty hand of God at work among the nations, Daniel gave special thought to the promises God had made to Israel. His faith in the prophetic word led him to enter into many experiences of the very thick, dark clouds foretold by the sacred writers. Yet all Daniel had to do was to Stand Still,Slow Down, And Be Quiet.
“After seventy years be accomplished at Babylon,” the Lord had declared,”I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return. I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace,and not of evil,to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” (Jer 29:10-13).
God says that we already have an expected end/purpose. We dont need to find what is already in place. Surely, it must be time for some of us to Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet!
It is important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. People will laugh at you. They will live following the evil they want to do.They will say, “Jesus promised to come again. Where is he? Our fathers have died, but the world continues the way it has been since it was made.” (2 Pet 3:3-4)
comfort one another
Bible prophecy is much more than just “predictions.” Prophecy takes us through past ages, and reflects upon the progression of sin and righteousness and justice and injustice. And yet, prophecy is not just “history” so called. Bible prophecy is “H.I.S. S.T.O.R.Y.” Prophecy is the story of Jesus. His life, His death, His resurrection, and His intercession for us now, in heaven. (Heb 7:25)
One verse that is somewhat blunt puts it like this when talking about the state of the world today, and how so many are cringing in fear at the slightest whisper of the word virus:
“…as for our iniquities, we know them; In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. (Isa 59:12-14)
Our world today is something akin to a ripe fruit, ready to be harvested. Jesus is coming back to put an end to the long sad history of sin and to build up His kingdom of righteousness. Jesus is coming to take you home. Jesus is coming to tell you that He has never lost hope in seeing you safe with Him for all eternity. And this is the grand purpose of Bible prophecy. In the midst of all the world’s turmoil; God’s people need to say with belief:
You were rescued by the precious blood of Christ, that spotless and innocent lamb. Christ was chosen even before the world was created, but because of you, he did not come until these last days. And when he did come, it was to lead you to have faith in God, who raised him from death and honored him in a glorious way. That’s why you have put your faith and hope in God. (1 Pet 1:19-21)
You were rescued by the precious blood of Christ, that spotless and innocent Lamb. Christ was chosen even before the world was created, (the everlasting gospel, Rev 14:6-7) but because of you, he did not come until these last days. And when he did come, it was to lead you to have faith in God, who raised him from death and honored him in a glorious way. That’s why you have put your faith and hope in God. You obeyed the truth, and your souls were made pure. Now you sincerely love each other. But you must keep on loving with all your heart. Do this because God has given you new birth by his message that lives on forever. The Scriptures say, “Humans wither like grass, and their glory fades like wild flowers. Grass dries up, and flowers fall to the ground. But what the Lord has said will stand forever.” Our good news to you is what the Lord has said. (1 Pet 1:19-25, CEV)
This article does not solve all the problems or riddles of Bible prophecy: it does not profess to know everything. But it will point us in the right direction. Let us continue into study of the vital subject of Bible prophecy of the second coming with open hearts. Prophecy is described in scripture as “the sure word” and as “a light in a dark place.”
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts (2 Pet 1:19)
Students of the Bible realize the vast importance of having correct views about those prophecies which still remain unfulfilled. What will the future be like? Can we know what sort of a world we shall be living in tomorrow? Or is there to be any tomorrow? So discordant are the voices of those who claim to know what the prophecies of the Bible predict, that the average person is tempted to say, with the perplexed and despairing Jewish exiles of the Babylonian captivity:
“We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet neither is there among us any that knows how long.” (Psalm 74:9).
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Pet 3:3,4)
It is the strongest part of faith to believe that God is still in His heaven, even though all is not right with the world, and to believe that He must have revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures the real truth about the world’s future.
“I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near. A star shall come forth from [the descendants of] Jacob, A scepter shall rise out of [the descendants of] Israel And shall crush the forehead of Moab And destroy all the sons of Sheth. (Num 24:17).
“Again Isaiah says, “THERE SHALL BE A ROOT OF JESSE, HE WHO ARISES TO RULE [as King] OVER THE GENTILES, IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE.” (Rom 15:12). (Mat 2:2)
Sometimes it can be very challenging to sift through all the stuff we keep calling “prophecy,” because there are many voices crying out for recognition and favor; yet the only real Light in the world is Jesus. “When Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12).
All prophecy, being described as “a light in a dark place” has to be about Jesus. And only Jesus. And Jesus told us who believe today that we are also :the light of the world,” (Mat 5:14), so Gods children are also a part of this Light that the world sees. “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; (Mat 5:14). “For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us!” (Rom 8:18) As Paul puts it “Christ in you, THE hope in glory.” (Col 1:27)
While many look at prophecy as just a lesson in largely secular history, or cherry-picked Bible tidbits from their denominated religion or church, the Bible simply declares all prophecy, in it’s intended bearings, IS about Jesus. Prophecy is not history; but rather, HIS-Story. There are many places in both Old or New Testaments to tell us this.
We could filter this all down to the lowest common denominator and simply say that when searching the scriptures, we must acknowledge that the most important and timely prophecy must be always centered around “Christ and Him crucified.” (Gal 4:4) ALL other truths are invested with Power and Influence, according to their relation to this theme. (Gal 6:14, Eph 2:13, etc). All prophecy has to be about Jesus. Bible Prophecy is HIS-STORY as reflected more by Old Testament prophets than New Testament writers at times!
“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King (Messianic King) is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Humble and unassuming [in submission to the will of the Father] and riding on a donkey, Upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zech 9:9).
We see here in Scripture that the triumphal entry of Jesus riding into Jerusalem (Mat 21:1-11) was predicted here more than 500 years before it happened. Just as this prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus came to earth, so the prophecies of his second coming are just as certain to come true. We are to be ready for his return, for he is coming!
“BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes (nations) of the earth will mourn over Him [realizing their sin and guilt, and anticipating the coming wrath]. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega [the Beginning and the End],” says the Lord God, “Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all].” (Rev 1:7-8, AMP).
“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, on the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him (the Messiah) was given dominion (supreme authority), Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language Should serve and worship Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed. (Dan 7:13-14)
Now, THAT is “the everlasting gospel” of Rev 14:6-12! The “everlasting gospel” is about this everlasting kingdom!
Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, with an eternal gospel to preach to the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people; (Rev 14:6)
The “warning” part of this message is seen in many places of Scripture; and there is a short passage in Galatians that sums it up very well. Christians today who want to know and make known Bible truth will be able to relate to what Paul stated in Galatians:
I am astonished and extremely irritated that you are so quickly shifting your allegiance and deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different [even contrary] gospel; which is really not another [gospel]; but there are [obviously] some [people masquerading as teachers] who are disturbing and confusing you [with a misleading, counterfeit teaching] and want to distort the gospel of Christ [twisting it into something which it absolutely is not]. (Gal 1:6-7, AMP).
This is obviously the same warning as in the text of Rev 14: “Then another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality [corrupting them with idolatry].” “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “Whoever worships the beast and his image and receives the mark [of the beast] on his forehead or on his hand,” (Rev 14:8-9). Isaiah prophesies a very similar message: “”Now look! Here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground.” (Isa 21:9).
Prophecies in Daniel also concur with the book of Revelation’s fourteenth chapter: “The king said thoughtfully, ‘Is not this the great Babylon which I myself have built as the royal residence and seat of government by the might of my power and for the honor and glory of my majesty?’ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came [as if falling] from heaven, saying, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: “The kingdom has been removed from you, (Dan 4:30-31)
We need to realize that salvation is taught not only in the gospels but also in the prophecies. The author has endeavored to make clear the vitally important truth that the true interpretation of the prophecies illustrates how salvation is accomplished, and also strengthens the soul to resist sin, by spelling out exactly what sin is. As the Word of God is the “seed” which, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, generates the new life (1 Peter 1: 23), that life is revived and strengthened as often as the Word of God is read and received into the soul (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
The “new person” (Colossians 3:10, 2 Cor 5:17, etc.) lives and grows “by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4; 1 Peter 2:2; 2 Peter 3:18). In purifying the life (1 Peter 1:22) and building up the soul (Acts 20:32), the Savior emphasizes the necessity of heeding “every word” of the Holy Scriptures (Matthew 4:4).
Our enemy seeks to render ineffective to students of the Bible the life-giving energy contained in certain important prophecies of Holy Writ. He does this by means of erroneous interpretations. Conversely, Jesus not only says “Search the Scriptures” (John 5:39), but He also inquires: “How reads thou?” (Luke 10:26). God wants us to “reason together with Him. (Isa 1:18)
By erroneous interpretations it is possible to “add unto” or “take away from” the Word of God, against which we are explicitly warned (Revelation 22:18,19). But God invites us to reason with Him, to ask Him what he thinks about our ideas and God always answers with Scripture. (Rom 4:3, Mat 4:4)
If you want real-time, real-life Bible prophecy, turn your eyes on Jesus! Not the internet, or fancy sermons by denominated preachers or priests who want to show and tell all of their doctrinal carrots to deceive people. To attract people into their church. The Bible warns us that
“…people shall arise from your own selves, speaking perverse things in order to draw disciples away after them.” (Acts 20:30).
I recall some years ago being approached by a coworker. They wanted to speak to me privately, so we went into the utility room. They said to me “You look like you are a Christian? My Mom is dying of cancer and she is very frightened. Can you please come out and read the Bible to her?”
I was very surprised to hear this person say
“you look like you are a Christian.”
Well, how did they know? I never once mentioned anything Bible at that place because it was a work setting and I knew I had to be sensitive to others who would not appreciate the gospel. But still, Jesus was seen in me somehow, and I did go to read the Bible to that person for several months whenever I could. As some of the family were gathered round the sick bed with me, we would join hands and sing their favorite hymns. Everyone there was decidedly a Christian because Jesus was present in a miraculous way, and that lady did die unafraid. In fact, she told us just before she died: “God just walked in the room.” And the person who originally asked me to come out, not only became a Christian but they ended up going back to school and became a Pastor. (Jer 3:15).
The New Testament shows how Jesus brought fulfillment to the Old Testament prophecies. In the unfolding of the Gospel, the New Testament employs 1500 quotations of sentences and phrases from the Old Testament Scriptures. The first verse of Matthew shows one of the main reasons for the writing of the book of Matthew and the New Testament; namely, to show the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies in Jesus and His work of salvation:
Through Jesus the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies is made certain. (See 2 Corinthians 1:20; Acts 13:27-37) The book of Matthew contains 99 direct references to the Old Testament Scriptures. Nine times he employed the formula, “That it might be fulfilled” (see Matthew 1:22,23; Mat 2:15,17,23,etc.), and at other times he referred to the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, saying: “For thus it is written by the prophet” (Matthew 2:5); “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet” (Matthew 27:9); “But all this was done, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled” (Matthew 26:56); “For it is written” (Matthew 26:31, etc.).
Thus Matthew illustrates the burden of the writers of the New Testament to show that Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and the development of His church and her work, all fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament. The first words we read in Matthew’s Gospel direct our minds back to the prophecies which were given to David and Abraham. While Solomon was the son who sat upon David’s throne in the days immediately following the prediction, the longer and the real fulfillment is to be fulfilled by “a greater than Solomon” (Matthew 12:42). The peacefulness and the wisdom of the earlier part of Solomon’s reign when people came from afar to learn of him, find their larger application in Christ. David was to have a son who would sit upon his throne (2 Samuel 7:12,13,16; Luke 1:32,33).
At Pentecost the disciples of Jesus were united in Peter’s interpretation because he made his declaration “standing up with the eleven” (Acts 2:14). Their present spiritual application of the kingdom prophecies (which the Jews applied only in a strictly literal sense in relation to the future) made the Old Testament a new and a living book for them and their hearers. No longer was it a book containing dry records of the past, and future blessings which were unrelated to the present, but a Book containing a past and a future which lived in the present-a living book vibrant with messages from a living Christ. Not only were “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3) afforded by the Old Testament itself, but the living Christ by his ever-present Spirit gave an experience in harmony with the interpretation. “In him there was life, and that life was a light for the people of the world.” (John 1:4, ERV)
The New Testament teaching is clear that, since the rejection of the Jewish nation, the church is now the “temple” in which Christ by His Spirit reigns. “The man of sin”-the counterfeit king-who was to sit “in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4) is one of the world’s most popular churches – a professedly Christian church that claims to rule all of the worlds religions.
Futurists-whether Papal or supposedly Protestant apply this prophecy in connection with a literal temple yet to be built in literal Jerusalem by an enemy of the literal Jews. Futurism fails to see the righteous/moral purpose of the prophecies concerning “the temple of God” referred to in 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4, and in other temple prophecies such as described in Ezekiel 40-48 and in Revelation 11:1. By applying these prophecies literally in relation to the future and Palestine, they fail to understand the present moral purpose for which they were given. Jesus even said “If you destroy this temple, I will raise it up again on the third day.” (John 2:19)
There is a place in heaven for you (John 14:1-2) and Jesus thinks that Heaven will not be the same without you in it. To Jesus you are precious (Isa 43:4, James 5:7) just as you are. (John 6:37). With all of your joys, sorrows, struggles, conflicts, your good points, your mistakes, yes. You are important to Jesus. So much so that:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:16-19)
Bible prophecy tells us that Jesus is coming again to take you, to take us, home to be with Him forever
How can we be ready for that amazing day? Stay tuned for next weeks message to find out!
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1)
no fear
In this one verse we find the power and virtue of the Gospel scheme; it pardons and sanctifies. By faith in our Lord Jesus Christ the penitent, condemned by the law, is pardoned; the carnal person, laboring under the overpowering influence of the sin of their nature, is sanctified. They are first freely justified; then they feel no condemnation; they are fully sanctified; they walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit.
“The other side, meaning in this case the anti vax side has now become like the pro vax side. Both sides are showing their true colors by representing with ulterior motives, commercial motives, for their party line dramas, using FEAR to convince their targets. Both sides are actively leading us down rabbit trails and crippled mentalities that only serve to get us off the Bible and onto anything else but. Its a clever trick to control the masses, ruin our health and steal our peace. But to find any real truth in it all, well that’s our big challenge.
We must get back to the Bible and stop letting these commercial entities control us. We must get back to the Bible alone, and not just the Bible alone, but what the Bible actually means by what it says to us. Psalms 110:105 tells us that God’s Word “is a Light unto our path,” and we can ill afford to let the anti vax side take the place of God’s everlasting gospel message for this time of the end that we are in now. But this is exactly whats happening in some of our churches now.
Speaking of Psalms 119:105, I had a long conversation recently with someone who loves God with all their heart but as they told it to me, they do not read the Bible at all. That comment surprised me and I couldn’t resist asking why. As we explored why they don’t read a Bible, it came out that my friend was actually afraid of the Bible. They are afraid to pick up a Bible and read it. Afraid of God’s Word because that’s what their church has taught them!
My heart sank for a moment because I know so many people who are so busy with either vax or anti vax that they no longer have time or energy to talk about Jesus or to have any conversation about the Bible anymore. They have no time or energy to seek out people like my friend who was so scared to even pick up a Bible, let alone to read it, and to teach them just how wonderful and how helpful God’s Word really is. These two sides are essentially one and the same now. Too busy with their pet causes now to even know for themselves how God’s Word can comfort, sustain, guide, and cheer. They have absorbed fully the FEAR factor that the devil loves to promote through mainstream media, and there is now no difference between the holy or the unholy with these people who have taken sides and let the issues at hand divide and conquer.
The devil loves FEAR as it pertains to False Evidence Appearing Real, and he is literally squealing and dancing for joy as he sees more and more of us fall for this trap. As long as they are not reading God’s Word he is happy. Both the vax and anti vax are now in full compliance with this big media FEAR tactic that they call “news.”
I am so happy though to see that my friend is now becoming very interested in God’s Word. After I started explaining Psalms 119: 105 and how God’s Word really does serve as a lamp unto our feet and a Light on our daily path, they were in tears, almost overwhelmed to know that they can read the Bible without being afraid and that they could look forward now to Gods comfort and guidance in their life. As I talked about this text, using my own personal testimony, I could literally see the hope and the conviction being written right across their face, and in their heart as we talked. My friend just said “Wow, I have never heard the Bible like that before.”
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1)
Rev 12:10-11 says that we overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. (about that blood in our own personal life). THAT is of a truth the only “preparation” that any Christian needs for the end times or the end of time when Jesus shall return on the clouds. (Rev 1:7) When will we start to accept that our preparation for the time of the end is ONLY by the blood of Christ and Him crucified. (Gal 6:14, Eph 2:13)
As I pen these words, I am sitting in the wilderness at night, in the dark, watching the stars for the right moments to photograph them and I keep thinking to myself “why can’t we all just shine like that in the darkness, the moral darkness that is stalking us all with vicious and startling intent? I see one particular star, brighter than all the others, and not even one of the millions of stars up there goes even a hairs width out of their appointed places, around that brightest star.
What a perfect reminder of how Gods people can always shine, as they “stand in their lot” (Dan 12:13) and shine in the ways and means that God has granted each one. “…they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Dan 12:3)
We each in our own sphere, have someone, that we can shine for. At this point I am reminded of how I told my friend who was scared of the Bible about the worlds shortest Adventist sermon. I was the one that preached that sermon at one of our churches down south a few years back. You see, in John 1:12 we are told how that “to them that received Him, gave He POWER to become the sons and daughters of God.” And we need only exercise said power, that is already ours.
Like my old Chrysler. It has enormous power! But that car will not go even an inch if I do not exercise its power! So I press the gas peddle. Now in that shortest sermon, there were only three words. “Love One Another.” My friends, THAT is our “gas peddle.” THAT is our POWER to become the sons and daughters of God! And in these end times, this is exactly what Jesus wants to give us all power to do! I mean what else are we, His adopted children to do but be this kind of example for the world to see Jesus in?
Well, of course there is more to this story. Much more. My friend and I were both in tears as we realized more than ever how simple, how wonderfully simple and simply wonderful the “everlasting gospel” of Rev 14 really is. My friend is asking me to go to their country now so that they can take me around to the different Catholic and Protestant churches there and preach about that shortest sermon.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1)
“Not guilty; let that person go free.”
What would those words mean to you if you were on death row?
The fact is that the whole human race is on death row, justly condemned for repeatedly breaking God’s holy law. Without Jesus we would have no hope at all. But thank God! He has declared us not guilty and has offered us freedom from sin and power to do his will.
Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority. (John 7:17, GNB) This text says that if we are willing to do Gods will and to know the truth, whatever it may turn out to be, we need only be willing to do whatever His Word might reveal to us as we explore what it says.
Truth is imparted only to open hearts. God imparts the truth in accord with our ability, and our desire to receive it.
If we are willing to do as Jesus says; then we stand prepared in our hearts to fulfill whatever is revealed to us and witnessed to by God’s Spirit, through His Word alone. Live with your face toward the dawn, for though it tarry long it will certainly break. (Psalms 30:5)
Those who do what is true come to the light in order that the light may show that what they did was in obedience to God. (John 3:21)
Many people don’t want their lives exposed to God’s light because they are afraid of what will be revealed. They don’t want to be changed. Don’t be surprised when these same people, maybe pro vaxers, maybe anti vaxers, are threatened by your desire to obey God and do what is right, because they are afraid that the light in you may expose some of the darkness in their lives. They want you to be afraid like them. Rather than giving in to discouragement, keep praying that they will come to see how much better it is to live in light than in darkness.
Faith in the gospel does not come by logic, but as the result of obeying the highest truth that you know. Follow on and your path will lead you out to where Jesus stands, the revealed Son of God and the Savior of men.
Accumulated light has shone upon God’s people, but many have neglected to follow the light, and for this reason they are in a state of great spiritual weakness. It is not for lack of knowledge that God’s people are now perishing. They will not be condemned because they do not know the way, the truth, and the life. The truth that has reached their understanding, the light which has shone on the soul, but which has been neglected or refused, will condemn them. Those who never had the light to reject, will not be in condemnation. What more could have been done for God’s vineyard than has been done? Light, precious light, shines upon God’s people; but it will not save them, unless they consent to be saved by it, fully live up to it, and transmit it to others in darkness. (2T 123)
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:15-18)
When are afraid of the future, eternity, or God’s judgment, we can remind ourselves of God’s love. We know that he loves us perfectly. We can resolve our fears first by focusing on his immeasurable love for us, and then by allowing him to love others through us. His love will quiet your fears and give you confidence.
Believers have always had to face hardships in many forms: persecution, illness, imprisonment, and even death. These sometimes cause them to fear that they have been abandoned by Christ. But Paul exclaims that it is impossible to be separated from Christ. His death for us is proof of his unconquerable love. Nothing can separate us from Christ’s presence. God tells us how great his love is so that we will feel totally secure in him. If we believe these overwhelming assurances, we will not be afraid.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)
If you would secure the grand object and purpose of life without mistake in your choice or fear of failure, you must make God first and last and best in every plan and work and thought. If you want a path that leads straight into darkness, you have only to cast the light of God behind you, live without God. When God points out your path and says, “This is your way of safety and peace,” you have only to set your face in an opposite direction from the way of the Lord and your feet will take hold on hell. The voice of the Lamb of God is heard speaking to us, “Follow Me, and ye shall not walk in darkness.” {2SM 167.1}
In a vision, Christ told Paul that he had many people in Corinth. Sometimes we can feel alone or isolated, especially when we see wickedness all around us or are persecuted for our faith. Usually, however, there are others in the neighborhood or community who also follow Christ. Ask God to lead you to them. There is no fear in love – The person who feels that they love God with all his heart can never dread him as his Judge. As they are now made a partaker of his Spirit, and carry a sense of the Divine approbation in his conscience, they have nothing of that fear that produces terror or brings torment.
The perfect love – that fullness of love, which they have received, casts out fear – removes all terror relative to this day of judgment, for it is of this that the apostle particularly speaks. And as it is inconsistent with the gracious design of God to have his followers miserable, and as he cannot be unhappy whose heart is full of the love of his God, this love must necessarily exclude this fear or terror; because that brings torment, and hence is inconsistent with that happiness which a man must have who continually enjoys the approbation of his God.
John and Judas are representatives of those who profess to be Christ’s followers. Both these disciples had the same opportunities to study and follow the divine Pattern. Both were closely associated with Jesus and were privileged to listen to His teaching. Each possessed serious defects of character; and each had access to the divine grace that transforms character. But while one in humility was learning of Jesus, the other revealed that he was not a doer of the word, but a hearer only. One, daily dying to self and overcoming sin, was sanctified through the truth; the other, resisting the transforming power of grace and indulging selfish desires, was brought into bondage to Satan. {AA 558.1}
Such transformation of character as is seen in the life of John is ever the result of communion with Christ. There may be marked defects in the character of an individual, yet when he becomes a true disciple of Christ, the power of divine grace transforms and sanctifies him. Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, he is changed from glory to glory, until he is like Him whom he adores. {AA 559.1}
If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor 5:13-17, NIV)
Now, the important thing is that your way of life should be as the gospel of Christ requires, so that, whether or not I am able to go and see you, I will hear that you are standing firm with one common purpose and that with only one desire you are fighting together for the faith of the gospel. (Phil 1:27)
Living without the FEAR promoted by Big media today means living for Christ now. When we express mature love toward one another and understand God’s love for us, we will experience assurance of salvation.
In this is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, that as He is, so also we are in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears has not been perfected in love. We love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4:17-19)
If we ever are afraid of the future, eternity, or God’s judgment, we can remind ourselves of God’s love. We know that he loves us perfectly (Rom 8:38-39). We can resolve our fears first by focusing on his immeasurable love for us, and then by allowing him to love others through us. His love will quiet your fears and give you confidence.
God’s love is the source of all human love, and it spreads like fire. In loving his children, God kindles a flame in their hearts. In turn, they always want to love others, who are warmed by God’s love through them. There is that shortest sermon again. There is our “gas pedal.” Love One Another. We exercise our power, because we already have it. To anyone who receives Jesus as Lord and Savior, gave He POWER to become the sons and daughters of God. (John 1:12)
Why standest thou afar off, O Lord?” (Psalms 10:1.)
light in the shadow
There are many things on my path unknown
So what if this journey seems hard to me
I don’t think that I travel the way alone
For the steps of Jesus now are all I see
We are promised that “God is a very present help in trouble.” (Psalms 46:1) But in my experience,Jesus permits trouble to pursue me, almost as if He were uncaring and indifferent to our problems, and the overwhelming pressure they present along our paths. Its almost like He is in the crucible with us, yet permitting the fiery trials, until I can recognize that I have no way to solve it, and that I finally say:
“OK Lord, I need You to help me with this.”
At the end of my rope, I then take the heavenly Lifeline of prayer from the loving Hands of Him who created me, and is leading me home. Jesus wants us to discover the “treasures of darkness,” the unmeasurable benefits of trials and sorrows, and pain:
I will give you treasures hidden in dark and secret places. Then you will know that I, the LORD God of Israel, have called you by name. (Isa 45:3, CEV)
I am now sure that He who permits the terrible suffering I am embroiled in is right here with me, right her in the middle of it. Just like He was with Daniels friends in the fiery furnace. (Dan 3:21,24)
Sometimes I don’t really notice His steps, His presence, until the trial is almost over, but I am choosing to step out today in faith and dare to believe that Jesus never leaves the fiery furnace as long as I am in it. (Heb 13:5) The fiery troubles may be so severe that my eyes are somehow blinded to the eternal verity of Jesus being that “present help in trouble.” Of Jesus being right here with me now.
It is interesting to note the situation when Daniel’s three friends were cast into that furnace. Because the furnace was heated to seven times its usual temperature, there was no hope of any kind with anybody that these three would be able to survive such a fiery trial. The King who sentenced them to the flames had this to say about it:
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” (Dan 3:24,25, ESV)
It is dark sometimes, in the midst of the fiery trials, too dark to see Jesus or anything or anyone that will help. But I praise God now that there is light in every cloud. The darkness holds treasures beyond my sight that I can never experience unless I go into the darkness and look for it.Not because of any good feelings, but strictly by faith. I know that Jesus is here. Jesus is deeply touched. His love and fidelity to me are unscathed, no matter what is going on. No, I do not physically see Jesus, as did those who beheld Him on the cross. But I talk to Jesus anyway, and these are the times when I get the clearest answers, the most amazing power, to still be a son of God.
“To them that received Him gave He power to be the sons and daughters of God.” (John 1:12).
It is always best to follow the example of Jesus, on the cross. The Bible says that in those final moments, it was very dark. (Mat 27:45). And Jesus, like me, could not see that God was there, could not see the hidden treasure in His darkness, that The Holy Spirit would soon resurrect Him after He died.There was simply no light to The Man Christ Jesus during that “ninth hour” when He cried out:
Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken me? (Mat 27:50)
At this moment in time Jesus, like the Psalmist in Psalms 10:1 was thinking that The Father was “standing afar off.” Jesus saw no hope, and could not detect God’s presence, the darkness was so overwhelming, yet Jesus chose to talk to God anyways; and he simply asked “why have you forsaken me?” And yet, in this eternal example to all of us today, right after Jesus said that, He also gave His heart and life over to God anyways:
“Jesus called loudly, “Father, I place my life in your hands!” Then he breathed his last.” (Luke 24:46, Message)
Jesus’ final words are from Psalms 31:5, where this is the prayer of trust from a righteous sufferer. Jesus exercised that faith here. His experience is to be ours.
If we take counsel with our doubts and fears, or try to solve everything that we cannot see clearly, before we have faith, perplexities will only increase and deepen. But if we come to God, feeling helpless and dependent, as we really are, and in humble, trusting faith make known our wants to Him whose knowledge is infinite, who sees everything in creation, and who governs everything by His will and word, He can and will attend to our cry, and will let light shine into our hearts. Through sincere prayer we are brought into connection with the mind of the Infinite. We may have no remarkable evidence at the time that the face of our Redeemer is bending over us in compassion and love, but this is even so. We may not feel His visible touch, but His hand is upon us in love and pitying tenderness. {SC 96.3}
When we speak to God in prayer, even though the prayer might seem desperate or desolate, we will assuredly realize His actual presence. (Heb 13:5) His presence, as with Jesus while on the cross may now be veiled, yet on the cross, the veil of the temple then was torn in two. It is during heart-felt open prayer to God in the direst circumstances where we experience the answering Voice which shows that Jesus is with us in the shadows, in the clouds, and in the fiery trials of this life.Truly, Jesus is just as close to us when we journey through the dark tunnel, as He seems to be under open sunny skies.
Although there may be a tainted, corrupted atmosphere around us, we need not breathe its miasma, but may live in the pure air of heaven. We may close every door to impure imaginings and unholy thoughts by lifting the soul into the presence of God through sincere prayer. Those whose hearts are open to receive the support and blessing of God will walk in a holier atmosphere than that of earth and will have constant communion with heaven. {SC 99.2}
The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray. The whispered temptations of the enemy entice them to sin; and it is all because they do not make use of the privileges that God has given them in the divine appointment of prayer. Why should the sons and daughters of God be reluctant to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence? Without unceasing prayer and diligent watching we are in danger of growing careless and of deviating from the right path. The adversary seeks continually to obstruct the way to the mercy seat, that we may not by earnest supplication and faith obtain grace and power to resist temptation. {SC 94.2}
There are certain conditions upon which we may expect that God will hear and answer our prayers. One of the first of these is that we feel our need of help from Him. He has promised, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” Isaiah 44:3. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who long after God, may be sure that they will be filled. The heart must be open to the Spirit’s influence, or God’s blessing cannot be received. Our great need is itself an argument and pleads most eloquently in our behalf. But the Lord is to be sought unto to do these things for us. He says, “Ask, and it shall be given you.” And “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Matthew 7:7; Romans 8:32. {SC 95.1,2}
Perseverance in prayer has been made a condition of receiving. We must pray always if we would grow in faith and experience. We are to be “instant in prayer,” to “continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” Romans 12:12; Colossians 4:2. Peter exhorts believers to be “sober, and watch unto prayer.” 1 Peter 4:7.
Paul directs, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6. “But ye, beloved,” says Jude, “praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God.” Jude 20, 21. Unceasing prayer is the unbroken union of the soul with God, so that life from God flows into our life; and from our life, purity and holiness flow back to God. {SC 97.2}
Pray in your closet, and as you go about your daily labor let your heart be often uplifted to God. It was thus that Enoch walked with God. These silent prayers rise like precious incense before the throne of grace. Satan cannot overcome him whose heart is thus stayed upon God. {SC 98.3}
There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God. There is nothing that can prevent us from lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer. In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to God and plead for divine guidance, as did Nehemiah when he made his request before King Artaxerxes. A closet of communion may be found wherever we are. We should have the door of the heart open continually and our invitation going up that Jesus may come and abide as a heavenly guest in the soul. {SC 99.1}
Are tears coming down in the dark? Is the shadow too heavy to bear? Does God seem like he is standing afar off today?
Arise and go to your Father. He will meet you a great way off. If you take even one step toward Him in repentance, He will hasten to enfold you in His arms of infinite love. His ear is open to the cry of the contrite soul. The very first reaching out of the heart after God is known to Him. Never a prayer is offered, however faltering, never a tear is shed, however secret, never a sincere desire after God is cherished, however feeble, but the Spirit of God goes forth to meet it. Even before the prayer is uttered or the yearning of the heart made known, grace from Christ goes forth to meet the grace that is working upon the human soul. {COL 206.1}
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. (John 11:24)
they will rise again
Martha, one of my favorite women in the Bible looked upon the resurrection and the life as things that were to be in some dim and misty future. But as the scripture record reveals, Jesus said: “No,”
“I am [NOW] the resurrection and the life. Not only do I get these things by prayer from God, but I am these things.” And then he goes on to explain it. He says, “I am the resurrection. Anyone that believes in me, though they were dead, yet shall they live. I am the life. Whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die; they will live.” (John 11:25)
I recall once some years ago during my nursing days, standing by the bedside of an elderly man who was dying. It was the night shift, and as I watched his life current slowly ebb from his emaciated body, I saw an old well used Bible on his bedside table. I asked “George, is it OK if I look in your Bible for a few minutes.” He couldnt speak but he nodded a yes.
I opened up George’s Bible and the very first thing I saw was the following text scrawled on the inside front cover in George’s very shaky looking hand writing:
“I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself.” (Phil 3:10, Message)
What an amazing text for me to discover just at that exact time & place with old George!
I have never forgotten this experience, that text, over the last 25 years. It has stood silently, steadfastly with me through every dark trial.
Jesus once said “I will rise again,” and His experience is to be our experience. The comfort, the assurance, and the power of this one promise, can help anyone at the very point of whatever felt needs are present in their lives. When I lost a loved one a few years ago, this was the very experience that we both had leaned heavily on:
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not go before those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thes 4: 14-18, MKJV)
What did Paul mean when he wrote, “We tell you this directly from the Lord”? (vs 15)
Either this was something that the Lord had revealed directly to Paul, or it was a teaching of Jesus that had been passed along orally by the apostles and other Christians.
It was at the bedside of a dying man where this truth was not only passed on to me; but at the point of George’s last breath that night, it became a lived experience, rather than a stale doctrine, or some contested theology.
I have sometimes wondered over the years how my friend could have faced his death with such assurance. He had horrible pain in the end, and his body was marred with the ravages of his disease. And he was alone. No family would come to see him in his last moments. There was no visible sign that he was “happy in the Lord” and trusting in Jesus as he left this life behind. Or was there? Perhaps his yes that he nodded to me when I asked to look in his Bible was the thing that showed He knew Jesus? And that he wanted me to know Him better too?
But when George said “Yes” to my request to look inside his Bible, that my friends was his moment of greatest power. That “yes” is the very definition of “I will rise again.” And it was my personal moment to rise again unto the “lively hope” of the resurrection power, for both this life, and the life to come.
As believers in Jesus today, we too have the opportunity for our moment of greatest power. There is opportunity, for anyone, no matter how rotten they are, to “rise again.” This is why the Bible calls the resurrection our “lively” or “living hope.” Because Jesus is risen! (Mat 1:21), Because Jesus is “the living God” (Psalms 42:2) of our life today:
Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on. (1 Pet 1:3, CEV)
Do you need encouragement?
Peter’s words offer such powerful joy and hope in times of trouble, and he bases his confidence on what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. We live with the wonderful expectation of eternal life (1 Pet 1:3). Our hope is not only for the future; because eternal life begins when we first trust Christ. Like my Grandmother used to say: Heaven begins on Earth.” Especially when we recognize along with the psalmist:
Why am I discouraged? Why am I restless? I trust you! And I will praise you again because you help me, (Psalms 42:5)
The Psalmist was rising again when he poured out those words! And when we rise again in our experience, we too will express new or renewed confidence in Jesus! When we pour out our hearts to Jesus. After all, “prayer is the opening of the heart to God, as to a friend.”
My greatest moments of power, my personal experiences of rising again out of whatever horrible pit I have been, in are always when I hear that same “yes,” from someone who cares enough to be there, and recognize that that yes, is just how Jesus will help me too.
“By this shall all people know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another…” (John 13:35)
My personal best antidote for spiritual depression is to meditate on the record of God’s goodness to His people. And to myself. (Rev 12:10-11) This will help take your mind off the present situation as you focus your thoughts on God’s ability, on God’s power, to help you rather than trying to count on your own inability to help yourself. This process is called “rise again.” (2 Cor 5:17) Why not take advantage of the Psalmist’s effectual antidepressant? The Bible accounts of God’s goodness, always give us something at least one step higher than where we are currently.
When I have stood watching death invade, my darkest thoughts oppressed me deeply, buried me in darkness. George’s “YES” turned my heart to God and in touching Jesus in such a very affectionate way like that, I started to rise again. I stopped feeling alone in my situation. This kind of Holy Love to Jesus as our main foundation in life, is the very power of Godliness. The very life and soul of all of us.
I didn’t realize for years how wrong I was about God, until I heard His “yes” through my dying friend, and my tortured heart began to rise again. Standing at George’s bedside, was my moment of greatest power. Through a few tears then, Jesus had just taught me very affectionately to know the worth and power of His everlasting mercies. Simply by providing me with the the very acute wanting of them! Of a truth, His mercies are new every morning! (Lam 3;23)
What power on earth can take that away from any one of us? Scripture asserts how that “nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.”
And you dont have to be a Christian to “rise again!” You just have to be in need, and acutely feel the need for God’s mercy:
keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 1:21)
Do you want to rise out of your darkest experiences? To know and trust Jesus not inspite of them, but because of them?
God’s yes to each of us today would be in His longing for, and providing for us to live close to Him, and to His people, and in giving up our trust of false teachers and any other dark souls who would try to pull us away from God.
And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. YES! (Jude 1:24-25, Message)
My friends, God wants to say “yes” to you now. God has a special plan for you to rise again! Just like He had for Jesus!
NOW can be your moment of greatest power.
“To them that received Him gave He power to become the sons and daughters of God! (John 1:12)
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chron 7:14)
turn to God
Most people who receive this weekly, I am sure, are very painfully aware of the frenetic pace our life has taken on in recent months. There are many issues happening in society, the world in general, and for me, I sometimes feel like I can’t even keep up to it all anymore. I found myself this week wondering:
“What could be a possible solution to all this?”
I did a little praying, some Bible study, I asked a few friends what they thought; and I looked a bit online. As I look at all the things coming upon the world now, I have wondered if there was some trick, well, not really a trick, but I couldn’t help but think: “God doesn’t seem as close to me this week. What am I doing wrong?”
And right in the middle of my searching, I think I have stumbled upon the perfect solution. God’s solution. I started to recall some of the Old and New Testament stories I have been reading these last few weeks, and I realized that no matter where I looked in the Bible, the very first response of all the prophets, in all the ages covered by the Bible was ALWAYS prayer. Whenever something bad was coming down the tubes, the first response of all the Bible Greats was to pray. I think this is why the opening text for this week’s email has resonated so well with me. And once I looked into this text, it did start to appear as the needed solution for our in common difficulties of today:
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chron 7:14
The promise here says that if God’s people would do three things, God would respond in three ways. The Lord’s people needed to become humble, that is,to confess; they needed to pray, or repent; and they needed to turn from their obviously wrong ways, and to come back to Him. If they did, God would hear, forgive, and heal them, and their land. Does our land need healing? Are we seeking God’s will in todays pressures and trials?
I find it very interesting that this text is not addressed to society at large. It seems mostly directed to “God’s people,” as He does say in this text:
“If MY PEOPLE…”
Rev 18:4, part of the great prophecies of the last days in the book of Revelation also shows God using this phrase, “My People.” In that verse, God says to Babylon, to His people in Babylon, “Come out of her My people.” During a time of national crises, God will speak directly to His people; God’s stated ideal for His people when there is trouble at the door is prayer and repentance.
True repentance is more than just talk. Repentance is ALWAYS a situation of “changed behavior.” (2 Cor 5:17) The Bible often calls this change “”turned from” as does our opening text for today. Whether we sin individually, as a group,or as a nation, following these steps will lead to forgiveness. God will ALWAYS hear the sincere, honest prayer of anyone who comes to Him, “just as they are.” (see John 6:37)
Scripture tells us that is is one thing to “just pray,” because His MO for prayer here is apparently, also being humble. What does this being “humble” look like in work clothes? It is very interesting that this kind of humility is something God is only asking of “His people.” The text says “if MY PEOPLE.” This clarion call to prayer is very similar to Rev 18:4 where God says “Come out of her MY PEOPLE.”
Jesus is always calling His people to a better way of life. To THE life. In fact Scripture says that “In Jesus was life, and THE life was/is the Light of everyone in the world. (see John 1:4). If we were to go to to the shores of an ocean, we would recognize how the incoming tide lifts all boats. What might be the effects of an incoming tide of prayer for “His people?” The incoming “tide” would lift all people. Jesus has promised:
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:10).
Jesus is telling His Church to
1) pray,
2) humble themselves, and
3) turn away from their lifestyle of sin.
In our human realms, we still like to think that we know the right steps to take; but as for me, I am starting to wonder if thats even half-true. God does say:
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” (Prov 16:25)
I found a really good example of the Prov 16:25 principle. A story I read about the first President of the USA, from 1789 to 1797), George Washington, who thought he knew what was best for him and his situation. Washington actually asked for “blood-letting” to be performed on himself for a health-condition he was recovering from, (throat infection). They ended up taking around 4 litres of blood (nearly 40% of his blood) from him, and sadly, Washington died from complications shortly after.
The Bible is correct when it states that there is a way that seems right to a person, but it’s way is the way of death. In accordance with 2 Chron 7:14, Scripture assures us of that very point in The New Testament:
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” (1 John 5:14).
“According To His Will,” appears to be the key ingredient that if practiced by we, God’s people, would be the incoming tide that would lift “all boats.” Not just a few of them. But are we, as a people doing this? Do we really want to “be humble” when we pray,or are we just satisfied with rotely saying the prayers, something like an incantation? In our text for today, we are asked by God to not just pray, but to “humble ourselves when we pray, with the intention of obeying (turning from sin) whatever it pleases our Lord
to reveal to us. As Jesus stated in John 7:17
“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know whether the teaching is of God or whether I speak on My own accord and by My own authority.” (John 7:17)
IF one is willing to do whatever God reveals to them, they will know what is truth and what way Jesus would have them proceed, even during the stormy times we live in now. I think that Jesus want us to live with power. The power of His Word. I was studying some things out of the 23rd Psalms earlier this week and learned something very intriguing about how to live
with power. I had always known that phrase “He restoreth my soul,” (Psalms 23:3), but what I didn’t know until this week was that one of the key elements to recovering our physical health, which many people of course want to do these days, is that of our spiritual health. The tidal wave of power that will lift all the “boats” (people) is 2 Chron 7:14.
Everywhere, in many ways, the Bible says that in restoring our soul, the physical body will be positively affected. 2 Chron 7:14 says when we do this “the land will be healed.” The Psalmist once mourned: “all day I am wearied with my groaning…” (Psalms 6:6). But Jesus informs us today that we are only forgiven, when we are ready to be HUMBLE and forgive all hurt and resentments that we hold against other people. The Lord’s prayer tells believers today that we are forgiven “as we forgive others.”
God’s people are being asked to pray and humble themselves. As my prayer partner said when I was writing this:
“When we let go and let God take care of everything, we stop trying to do it on our own. We surrender to Jesus. Because on our own we can do nothing. And the measure we use in judging others will simply condemn us, by our very own standards. We need to stop being so foolish . “Love one another, and forgive as we have been forgiven by Jesus.
Be kind and help, and respect each other, without expecting anything in return. God will reward us according to our own standards. His standards are often not our’s, because it is love that Jesus wants us all to give to each other; and to stop competing with everyone else. We all, ultimately have the same goal. Lets “lift all the boats” and sent the tidal wave of prayer, of being humble, and of turning from everything we know is wrong.
For stricken Israel there was but one remedy–a turning away from the sins that had brought upon them the chastening hand of the Almighty, and a turning to the Lord with full purpose of heart. To them had been given the assurance, “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people; if My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:13,14. It was to bring to pass this blessed result that God continued to withhold from them the dew and the rain until a decided reformation should take place. {PK 128.1)
If God’s people will do three things, God will always respond in three ways. The Lord’s people need to become humble, that is, confess they have sinned; they need to pray, or repent; and they needed to turn, or come back to Him. If they do this even today, God would hear, forgive, and heal us in miraculous ways.
