Living Under The Shadow: Part 1
In: We Are His Witnesses
They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. (Hosea 14:7 KJV)
When our will is weak, when our thinking is confused, and when our conscience is burdened with a load of guilt, we must remember that God cares for us continually; His love knows no bounds. When friends and family desert us, when coworkers don’t understand us, and when we are tired of being good, God’s love knows no bounds. When we can’t see the way or seem to hear God’s voice, and when we lack courage to go on, God’s love knows no bounds. When our shortcomings and our awareness of our sins overcome us, God’s love knows no bounds.
Whenever things are going well for us, we feel elated. When hardships come, we sink into depression. Despair. The scriptures tell us that true joy transcends our rolling waves of circumstances. Our shadow becomes our Source of Light.
Our joy comes by way of steady relationship with Jesus Christ. When our lives are intertwined with His, Jesus will help us to walk through the clouds of adversity, without sinking into debilitating lows or into deepening despair. “the joy of The Lord will be my strength.” (Neh 8:10)
Sometimes, Jesus will even help us to manage prosperity without entering into the deceptive highs of Big Money. We must recognize that any success or victory in our lives comes from the Hand of God; because we chose Jesus to be in our life, not just as savior, but also as Lord. Jesus said “without Me you can do nothing.” The true joy of living with Jesus daily, will keep us level-headed, and under the shadow of His mercy. Regardless of how high or how low our current circumstances.
The love of God our Father, for God The Son is the true measure of the love of Christ for all of the sons and daughters of God today. The true measure of our love for one another, is to love without measure.
When we know Jesus as he really is, we will just automatically want to love one another. Just as Jesus loved us. Think Calvary. (Gal 6:14, Eph 2:13).
Jesus loved us enough to die on the cross for us. “Those who are afar off are made near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph 2:13) Now its true, we might not have to die for someone but there are many other ways for us to practice love, one to another; such as the sacrificial love that Jesus showed everyone in His path.
The ministry of Jesus emulated listening, helping, encouraging, giving, praying, and showing acceptance and inclusion to even the weirdest people. People in church or out on the street that we would usually pass on by. As Christians, may we think of someone in particular who really needs this kind of love today. We give all the love that we can, and then we try to give a little more. As we now read in Hosea 14:7, CEV,
“You will rest in my shadow, and your grain will grow. You will blossom like a vineyard and be famous as the wine from Lebanon.”
Here, God foresees a time where He would restore repentant Israel The Father’s renewed blessing is herein compared to the sweet morning dew that arises out of the shadows of our night.
Revived Israel is in Scripture, compared to a beautiful Lily, or the deep-rooted Cedars of Lebanon, an attractive Olive Tree, or sometimes, a fruitful vine God Himself is shown as the green Cyprus Tree that provides desperately needed shade for protection. Protected living “under the shadow.” (Psalms 91:1)
In the searing heat of the deserts in our lived experience, we have this beautiful affirmation of God’s watchful care, of God’s diligent protection, all of which can at times seem to stand in stark contrast to God’s judgment, which as we also see in Scripture, is compared to a leopard stalking it’s prey. “I took care of you in a thirsty desert. I fed you till you were satisfied, then you became proud and forgot about me. Now I will attack like a lion, ambush you like a leopard, (Hosea 13;5-7, CEV)
The story is told in the gospels, where “Jesus plucked the beautiful lily, and placed it in the hands of children and youth; and as they looked into His own youthful face, fresh with the sunlight of His Father’s countenance, He gave the lesson,
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow [in the simplicity of natural beauty]; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Then followed the sweet assurance and the important lesson, “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
In the sermon on the mount these words were spoken to others besides children and youth. They were spoken to the multitude, among whom were men and women full of worries and perplexities, and sore with disappointment and sorrow. Jesus continued:
“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (for after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your Heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things.” Then spreading out His hands to the surrounding multitude, He said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:28-33.
Thus Christ interpreted the message which He Himself had given to the lilies and the grass of the field. He desires us to read it in every lily and every spire of grass. His words are full of assurance, and tend to confirm trust in God. So wide was Christ’s view of truth, so extended His teaching, that every phase of nature was employed in illustrating truth. The scenes upon which the eye daily rests were all connected with some spiritual truth, so that nature is clothed with the parables of the Master.
In the earlier part of His ministry, Christ had spoken to the people in words so plain that all His hearers might have grasped truths which would make them wise unto salvation. But in many hearts the truth had taken no root, and it had been quickly caught away.
“Therefore speak I to them in parables.” He said; “because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. . . . For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed.” Matthew 13:13-15.
Jesus desired to awaken inquiry. He sought to arouse the careless, and impress truth upon the heart. Parable teaching was popular, and commanded the respect and attention, not only of the Jews, but of the people of other nations. No more effective method of instruction could He have employed. If His hearers had desired a knowledge of divine things, they might have understood His words; for He was always willing to explain them to the honest inquirer.
Again, Christ had truths to present which the people were unprepared to accept or even to understand. For this reason also He taught them in parables. By connecting His teaching with the scenes of life, experience, or nature, He secured their attention and impressed their hearts. Afterward, as they looked upon the objects that illustrated His lessons, they recalled the words of the divine Teacher. To minds that were open to the Holy Spirit, the significance of the Savior’s teaching unfolded more and more. Mysteries grew clear, and that which had been hard to grasp became evident.
Jesus sought an avenue to every heart. By using a variety of illustrations, He not only presented truth in its different phases, but appealed to the different hearers. Their interest was aroused by figures drawn from the surroundings of their daily life. None who listened to the Savior could feel that they were neglected or forgotten. The humblest, the most sinful, heard in His teaching a voice that spoke to them in sympathy and tenderness. (Christ’s Object lessons, pg 19-22)
Another time, from which the opening text for this article was taken, “many educated and influential [people] had come to hear the Prophet of Galilee. Some of these looked with curious interest upon the multitude that had gathered about Christ as He taught by the sea. In this great throng all classes of society were represented. There were the poor, the illiterate, the ragged beggar, the robber with the seal of guilt upon his face, the maimed, the dissipated, the merchant and the man of leisure, high and low, rich and poor, all crowding upon one another for a place to stand and hear the words of Christ. As these cultured men gazed upon the strange assembly, they asked themselves, Is the kingdom of God composed of such material as this? Again the Savior replied by a parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”
Among the Jews leaven was sometimes used as an emblem of sin. At the time of the Passover the people were directed to remove all the leaven from their houses as they were to put away sin from their hearts. Christ warned His disciples,
“Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Luke 12:1.
And the apostle Paul speaks of the
“leaven of malice and wickedness.” 1 Corinthians 5:8.
But in the Savior’s parable, leaven is used to represent the kingdom of heaven. It illustrates the quickening, assimilating power of the grace of God.
The Bible tells us in many different ways how that
“None are so vile, none have fallen so low, as to be beyond the working of this power. [Of this leaven]. In all who will submit themselves to the Holy Spirit a new principle of life is to be implanted; the lost image of God is to be restored in humanity. {COL 95-96}
God desires that this restoration become personal. God’s strong promises, are all geared to making your restoration possible.
Often the question arises, Why, then, are there so many, claiming to believe God’s word, in whom there is not seen a reformation in words, in spirit, and in character? Why are there so many who cannot bear opposition to their purposes and plans, who manifest an unholy temper, and whose words are harsh, overbearing, and passionate? There is seen in their lives the same love of self, the same selfish indulgence, the same temper and hasty speech, that is seen in the life of the worldling. There is the same sensitive pride, the same yielding to natural inclination, the same perversity of character, as if the truth were wholly unknown to them.
The reason is that they are not converted. They have not hidden the leaven of truth in the heart. It has not had opportunity to do its work. Their natural and cultivated tendencies to evil have not been submitted to its transforming power. Their lives reveal the absence of the grace of Christ, an unbelief in His power to transform the character.
The truths of the word of God meet everyone’s great practical necessity–the conversion of the soul through faith. These grand principles are not to be thought too pure and holy to be brought into the daily life. They are truths which reach to heaven and compass eternity, yet their vital influence is to be woven into human experience. They are to permeate all the great things and all the little things of life.
Received into the heart, the leaven of truth will regulate the desires, purify the thoughts, and sweeten the disposition. It quickens the faculties of the mind and the energies of the soul. It enlarges the capacity for feeling, for loving.
The world regards as a mystery the person who is imbued with this principle. The selfish, money-loving person lives only to secure for themselves the riches, honors, and pleasures of this world. They lose the eternal world from his reckoning. But with the follower of Christ these things will not be all-absorbing. For Christ’s sake they will labor and deny self, that they may aid in the great work of saving souls who are without Christ and without hope in the world. Such a person the world cannot understand; for they are keeping in view eternal realities. The love of Christ with its redeeming power has come into the heart. This love masters every other motive, and raises its possessor above the corrupting influence of the world.
The word of God is to have a sanctifying effect on our association with every member of the human family. The leaven of truth will not produce the spirit of rivalry, the love of ambition, the desire to be first. True, heaven-born love is not selfish and changeable. It is not dependent on human praise. The heart of him who receives the grace of God overflows with love for God and for those for whom Christ died. Self is not struggling for recognition. He does not love others because they love and please him, because they appreciate his merits, but because they are Christ’s purchased possession. Yes, its about the cross!
If motives, words, or actions are misunderstood or misrepresented, a Christ-follower takes no offense, but pursues the even tenor of The Way. They are kind and thoughtful, humble in their opinion of themselves, yet full of hope, always trusting in the mercy and love of God.
As the seed sown produces a harvest, and this in turn is sown, the harvest is multiplied. In our relation to others, this law holds true. Every act, every word, is a seed that will bear fruit. Every deed of thoughtful kindness, of obedience, or of self-denial, will reproduce itself in others, and through them in still others. So every act of envy, malice, or dissension is a seed that will spring up in a “root of bitterness” (Hebrews 12:15), whereby many shall be defiled. And how much larger number will the “many” poison.
Every association of life calls for the exercise of self-control, forbearance, and sympathy. We differ so widely in disposition, habits, education, that our ways of looking at things vary. We judge differently. Our understanding of truth, our ideas in regard to the conduct of life, are not in all respects the same. There are no two whose experience are alike in every particular. The trials of one are not the trials of another. The duties that one finds light are to another most difficult and perplexing.
We need not keep our own record of trials and difficulties, griefs, and sorrows. All these things are written in the books, and heaven will take care of them. While we are counting up the disagreeable things, many things that are pleasant to reflect upon are passing from memory. The merciful kindness of God surrounding us every moment and the love over which angels marvel. That God gave His Son to die for us.
Some who are Christians feel that they have had greater cares and trials than have fallen to the lot of others. But remember that for you there is a peace unknown to those who shun these burdens.
There is comfort and joy in the service of Christ. Christians can often do a much better job of showing the world that in our personal life with Jesus, there is NO failure possible and this is why Jesus said: “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.” (John 13;35, AMP)
Jesus says that our Christ-like love will show we are his disciples. Do people see petty bickering, jealousy, and division in your church? Or do they know you are Jesus’ followers by your love for one another?
So frail, so ignorant, so liable to misconception is human nature, that each should be careful in the estimate he places upon another. We know very little the bearing of our acts upon the experience of others. What we do or say may seem to us of little importance when, could our eyes be opened, we should see that upon it depended the most important results for good or for evil.
Thus the sowing of good and evil goes on for time and for eternity.
We all at times live “under the shadow,” but we all can choose how we are going to respond to it.