“….Let thine heart retain my
words….” Proverbs 4:4
Solomon was
blessed to have parents who instructed him in all aspects of life and wisdom.
He was also careful enough to appreciate and respect the things that were
imparted to him. It is important that we make efforts to retain, hold onto and
grasp the things of God as are taught in His Word. Committing biblical words,
concepts and truth to the heart and not merely the head is a primary task, duty
and privilege of the believer. In the heart these things are most profitable –
there they perform the greatest work, exert the greatest influence and supply
the greatest benefit. Memorizing the Word of God is a valuable and healthy practice;
it renews the mind and keeps it alert to the values of God. However impressing
the meaning, principles and application of the scriptures to the heart, for the
purpose of living by them and practicing them, is the ultimate spiritual muscle
builder and life generating exercise. Every day should find us in prayer and
careful, patient meditation of the God’s Word. It is the necessary food for the
soul and sustenance for the spiritual man. Masticating and ingesting this
life-giving spiritual substance daily, will help to place it firmly in our
heart, and make it part of our will, our choices, our affections and desires.
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“For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3
Dead is not
the way we would like to describe ourselves, and yet it is the definition which
the Word of God gives to those who are saved and thus are alive in Christ. So
we could say we are dead in one sense and yet alive in another. This holds true
because when we come to Jesus and find new life - spiritual life in Him, we are
supposed to cease, desist and turn from the ‘old’ life we had prior to our
salvation. The bible calls the life we had before we came to Christ the “old
man”, and it teaches that if we are in Christ, the old has passed away (it is
dead) and we have become new creatures.
This means we are supposed to be ‘dead’ to – the old lusts, ambitions,
choices, behaviour and sins. If we are truly ‘in Christ’ we should be unable
and unwilling to function on the old plane, but find our life and pleasure only
in Jesus and through the values and ways He wants us to live by. That’s a
‘good’ way to be dead! Being dead to sin and to ourselves, means we are alive
in righteousness and in the Spirit of God! The Apostle Paul found it necessary
to renew his commitment of ‘dying-to-the-flesh-to-live-in-the -Spirit’, on a
daily basis. It seems logical that if he who served God so well needed to do
this, perhaps we too should consider it a daily necessity! If we are running ‘our
own show’ instead of letting Jesus rule in our lives, there is every likelihood
that we are actually letting the zombie of our flesh (the old dead man) rule,
and in spite of being ‘born again’ in title, we are actually denying and
turning down the very life Jesus gave us, and that this biblical and liberating
truth is proposing.
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“And the people served the LORD all the
days of Joshua…” Judges 2:7
Joshua, like Moses before
him, was by his life, obedience to God, and leadership, a powerful and formative
influence among the people of Israel. While he and those of his generation who
with him had experienced God’s deliverance and leading of Israel to the
Promised Land still lived, the people were overall closer to God in their minds
and hearts, and served the Lord in what He had commanded. This is not to say
that there were no rebels or some who didn't choose otherwise during that time.
The record shows that both through Moses’ time and the time of Joshua’s
leadership some failed to obey God, incited rebellion against God’s leadership
and paid dearly for their dissention and disobedience. It does seem however
that the generation which grew under Joshua had overall a closer sense of God
than the generation which followed, the latter being labelled in verse 10, as ‘not
knowing the Lord or His works’! The
net result was their abandonment of the God of their fathers. Effective
leadership helps, there is however a sad human limitation in the influence
we can exert on others, particularly those of the generation which follows our
own. We can tell them, show them and teach them, but we cannot pass onto them our personal experiences - those they must desire and discover for themselves! Our love, fear and obedience of God
and our efforts in serving Him then, should be most excellent and of the
highest quality, reflecting the greatest faithfulness and deepest conviction,
so that the next generation may have the best possible example to view,
remember and follow. Whenever we lessen or compromise our stand for God even a
little, we should think that the damage we are doing is not merely to ourselves
and those of our immediate family, that would be bad enough, but we may also
further disadvantage the chances of spiritual survival for the next generation.
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“….the God of all comfort;” 1 Corinthians 1:3
Like all
things good and wholesome, consolation, compassion and comfort find source in,
and flow from, the Lord God. Comfort found in anyone or anything else is quite short
lived, or not at all as heartening as we can have through Jesus. Mankind is
predisposed to trouble and suffering, and in such times we all need relief and
support. The best comfort in our times of distress comes from the Lord, for He
like no-one else, best understands us and our situation. In verses 3-7 of this
chapter, Paul uses the Greek word for comfort (also translated consolation in
the KJV) ten times, highlighting for us not only the fact that God is the
source of our comfort in afflictions and sufferings, but that we can become
channels of God’s comfort to others. Note that we have no real or worthwhile consolation
of our own to give, but that we can be used by God to transmit His support to
others. We learn then, that we are not only to trust God and allow Him to be
our solace in all our life struggles, but that we should also allow Him to use
us to communicate the power and support of His comfort, to those around us who are
facing anguish and difficulty. Perhaps we are best equipped to be ministering
servants of God’s comfort to others, when we have ourselves suffered and have
experienced the consolation that comes through His Spirit, perhaps through the
kind words and supportive actions of another ‘comforted comforter’. This
process and transmission, from one comforted believer to another, and anointed
by God’s Holy Spirit, seems integral and necessary to assist members of the
body of Christ, the church, in maintaining a spiritually strong and healthy
cohesiveness and closeness. It may help us then to remember when we go through
a trial of life, and find comfort in God, that a secondary reason for the Lord
allowing this, aside than for our personal spiritual strengthening, could be
that we, at some stage in the future, may be a support, aid and succour to
someone else, as they too face the distresses of life.
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion
“…mine hour is not yet come.” John 2:4
God’s timing
is always perfect and His work impeccable. He is never late and always on time,
even when we cannot reconcile His timing with our human expectations,
understanding or preference. Clearly God’s timing and His will are closely
intertwined, so much so that we can miss His way altogether, when we step out
of the timing of His will. We are often prone to become anxious, as Mary did at
the marriage in Cana, regarding some need or want, and not only solicit but
want to ‘hurry’ the Lord to act because ‘we are ready’, or we think the time is
right, when in fact His work is done when He is ready! Although the Lord at
times and mercifully condescends to our requests in ‘time’ with our
anticipation, we cannot really ever interfere with or change God’s timing, if
He has determined to function by a schedule which best suits His will and
purpose. It is us who must learn to fit in with God and not the other way around.
In a world of push-button instant responses, we are used to ‘getting what we
want, when we want it’, but this kind of genie-like, magical mentality is not
what our relationship with God is all about. He is not at our ‘beck and call’,
He is our Master and we His servants, and that order cannot, must not, be
reversed in our thinking or expectation. It may well be that the Lord wants to
grant our request, but the timing of His work may not be automatically granted
to suit our timepiece. God’s ‘delays’ build our faith and trust in Him, they
help us remember we are not in control, He is. They are allowed for vital and
important purposes and should be accepted with patience and grace on our part,
knowing that God is our Father and He knows what is best for us and the
situation that faces us.
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“…death
hath no more dominion over him.” Romans 6:9
Never could death dominate the Lord of its own accord. God
is eternal and immortal - that is, above and beyond all death, deterioration
and perishing. Once and for a brief time, to atone for humanity’s sin, Jesus
submitted to the power of death. He took upon Himself our sins and consented to
be placed under the authority of death, to represent us, act on our behalf, and
deliver us from the yoke and retribution of our sin and iniquities. His
sacrifice purchased life eternal for all who believe and trust in Him. Death
and the grave however, could not hold the Lord. His Lordship, His personal
sinlessness and His authority placed Him beyond death’s holding power and grip.
He rose from the dead, defying and conquering death, hell and the grave! Never
again will death be permitted to hold dominion over the Lord Jesus Christ,
never again will He submit to it – and because of what Jesus did, you and I,
through faith and obedience in Him, can also escape the grasp of death. His
Word promises that He is coming to take us where He is, into eternal peace and
rest, and on that day, we will be changed from this mortal existence to become
immortal beings, and shout with joy and glory: “Oh death where is thy sting? Oh
grave where is thy victory.”
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion
“….for
there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.”
1 Samuel 14:6
Humanity finds the greatest strength by aggregation. The
larger the number and means, the more ‘powerful’ we as humans feel. God is not
so limited. His power is complete and perfect when He is on His own. He does
not need an army to validate or enforce His position nor manifold riches to
assert or maintain His office. Although He chooses to work via the limited human
agency, His power and work is not restricted to it. He does not need to depend
on the size, quantity or quality of our human input - He chooses to do so, when
it pleases Him and it serves His purposes. The Lord can at His will and
preference, elect to go well beyond our human limits or even bypass our input all
together and there to perform His great acts. Often He selects to use our
‘little’ and make ‘much’ out of it. Like a child who feels he is capable of
doing something well beyond his actual ability, because his parent is holding
and directing his hand, the Lord moves and works in us and causes us to realise
that it is His power and strength through us, that does the work. Whilst we are
left to wonder at the amazing and sometimes ‘beyond-us’ results that can come
from this reliance on Him, we also become very conscious of the reality of His
working by us, and get a measure of our ‘littleness’ and insufficiency without
Him! Jonathan and his armour bearer were a distinct minority and faced with
frightening odds, yet faith and trust in God made them bold and victorious.
Like them, we should never despair at our lack or insufficiency. When we depend
on all-sufficient God we would do well to remember that our limitations and
constraints are not His.
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