Tag: Jesus

Peace in Believing

This peace is an overall sense of blessed assurance that a faithful God can be trusted in any and every situation to do what is right and best for his people. It is the fruit of a life centered in, focused on and engaged with the God of hope.

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Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and bless God saying, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” – Luke 2:25-32

Simeon was a righteous and devout man, led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He believed what the Holy Spirit revealed to him, that he would see the Messiah with his own eyes before he died. So he faithfully waited, anticipating the “consolation of Israel,” the one who would bring comfort and rescue.

And now the time had come. In joy and wonder, Simeon beheld the Lord’s Christ. When he scooped the Messiah up and held him in his arms, he knew this child would bring salvation, not just to Israel, but to the world. Simeon blessed the Lord. He blessed Mary and Joseph. His heart was full. 

Because of his faith, Simeon had peace in the waiting. He believed God would do as the Holy Spirit had revealed. Simeon, Spirit upon him, had peace entering the temple and left the temple in peace and joy. Simeon would depart from this world in peace, knowing first-hand that God, who promised, is faithful. The Lord God had brought salvation to the world through Jesus Christ. There was peace in believing.

As spirit-filled believers, we have access to the peace of God; an inner peace even in the middle of outside chaos. This peace is an overall sense of blessed assurance that a faithful God can be trusted in any and every situation to do what is right and best for his people. It is the fruit of a life centered in, focused on and engaged with the God of hope. Just as Simeon believed, according to the word of God, we too can believe according to God’s word. Our God knows us as he knew Simeon. He loves us and sent his son to reconcile us to himself. The Father gifted us with the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and Jesus left us with his gift of peace and exhorted us to guard our hearts from being unsetted and afraid. (John 14:22) Christ Jesus has overcome the world and all the trouble and heartache with it.

Consider what this good news of great joy really means for you today. Have you seen and embraced the salvation of the Lord; the Light of the World? Give thought to the significance of this gospel gift and allow yourself to experience the joy of the season and peace in believing!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. –Romans 15:13

This is Love

The greatest gift came from the greatest love.

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For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.–John 3:16-17

In wisdom and out of the abundance of His great love, God, who is love, expressed his love for us by sending his one and only son to a world who would not recognize him. Fearing what they did not know, they killed him. But earthly power and judgment could not conquer heavenly power and resurrection love.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.–1 John 4:7-9

Christ was born for us among the animals without the honor due his name. Love was made manifest among us. He lived for us, teaching us his higher ways and modeling humility, wisdom, and gentleness. While we were yet in our most despicable state, he suffered and died for us (Romans 5:6-8); the sacrificial Lamb of God, without blemish or stain, was slain for our sin. In ultimate power and might, he rose in victory from the grave. Our kinsman-redeemer, delivered us from the power of sin and death. The greatest gift came from the greatest love.

As recipients of God’s love, let us, with grateful and humble hearts, bear with one another in love. As those who have been forgiven much, let us, without hesitation, forgive others and let the love of Christ dwell in us richly.

Interruption as Intervention

His daily rescue intercedes on our behalf fulfilling his plan and purpose. He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. God’s intervention determines the direction of our lives like the landscape determines the course of a river.

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Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

I have made many plans in my life. Planning gives order to what would be a chaotic, aimless existence. How I hold those plans is determined by how I see myself in light of my view of God. When I believe I know what’s best, despite what God has in mind, I struggle accepting the changes that have derailed my plans. It is when I confess that I am little and God is big that I find peace with change. Knowing God is loving, faithful and trustworthy I am constrained to entrust myself to Him. I must choose to surrender to His will, submit to His authority, acknowledge His sovereignty and yield to His way. In this there is hope and peace.

The average day rarely goes as planned or imagined. Though my agenda keeps my life from complete chaos, even a well-planned day isn’t complete without changes, unexpected situations, countless interruptions and surprises. It’s not unusual to think my day is going in one direction only to find my plan detoured and redirected down another path. I have learned, through practice, to accept changes and to hold my schedule with an open hand. While my tendency is to resist change, a glitch in a day is hardly something to lose my peace over! Minor levels of resistance require regrouping and rethinking.

Sadly for those of us who want order and control in our lives, change and interruptions do not remain small or insignificant. Life has a way of not turning out as we’d imagined. Accidents happen, people disappoint, health declines, jobs are lost, people die. Suddenly, often without warning, the future looks very different than we had planned or pictured. The unknown future often seems bleak. Instead of a minor redirection, it’s more of a derailment or a shipwreck leaving us grieved, fearful, lost and perhaps angry and without direction or vision for the future. We tend to resist and push back against these unwelcome changes and all that they means for us.

Lot was such a man. Two angels, appearing as men, were sent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to warn Lot and his family that the Lord was about to rain sulfur and fire down to destroy the cities. The angels urgently implored him to get his family out of the city and into the hills. Leaving would be more than abandoning his home. It meant a complete change of status, wealth and an unknown future. God’s consideration meant sacrifice for Lot and his loved ones. Their very real losses were God’s great mercy and kindness upon him and his family. This interruption was an intervention of rescue.

But Lot lingered. Instead of acting as a man leaving a burning building, he belabored perhaps pondering/processing what it would mean to stay or to leave. In keeping with the urgency of the situation, the angels seized him, his wife and two daughters and dragged them by the hands out of the city. As they were leaving they were told to escape for their lives and not to look back or stop anywhere in the valley.

Luke 17:32-33 Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to perserve his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will keep it.

Lot wasn’t the only one dragging his feet. Lot’s wife, who trailed behind him, looked back. As most commentators have stated, it wasn’t a mere glance over the shoulder but a regretful longing for what she’d left behind. Her treasures were earthly and therein her heart was found. And it was her heart, revealed in a disobedient look back, that betrayed her. She lost the life she desired to preserve and became a pillar of salt.

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

When God changes our plans He aligns our plans with His. Not only does he order the steps of the righteous but he protects them when they fall. He has them by the hand. (Psalm 37:23-24) His daily rescue intercedes on our behalf fulfilling his plan and purpose. He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. God’s intervention determines the direction of our lives like the landscape determines the course of a river. God doesn’t mind inconveniencing us or interrupting our plans to meet our needs or the needs of others while revealing Himself and displaying His glory.

And so do not fear and do not lose heart. A change of plans, a life interrupted, is part of the good work our Lord is doing. He is perfect. His will and His ways are perfect. And great are His steadfast love and faithfulness toward you.

…there is Liberty.

Quarantine is not about your freedoms being taken away. It’s about liberty. Liberty says that I am free as long as my actions do not infringe upon or take away the freedom of others.

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We’re doing a new thing. It’s called self-quarantine. We’ve no context for what this means for our future. We’ve never experienced anything globally such as this. We have never experienced anything in our country, our state, our community such as this. The closest my family has come to self-quarantine was the Chickenpox and those quarantined were under 4 feet tall with no drivers’ license, job or responsibility other than making their own bed and picking up their toys.

The Chickenpox was a bit of an inconvenience but nothing more. My kids were itchy and have a few faded scars but other than that our life as a family returned to normal very quickly.

Today we are self-quarantined. Many people are under a mandatory quarantine; only permitted to leave their homes for the necessities of food and medical needs. It seems our state may be heading, very quickly, in that direction. Americans have never known this type of constraint of freedom on a large scale. We, Americans, pride ourselves on our freedoms. We live in a “Free country.” We are free to make our own choices and we resist the government telling us what we can and cannot do with our money, speech, bodies, time etc. We are free to choose. Our state motto is “Live Free or Die.” The idea of quarantine stirs up the perception of loss of Constitutional freedom and produces an inclination to defy the heavy hand of government and defend freedoms.

And so we live in a growing culture of fear. Fear of contracting Covid-19. Fear of spreading the virus. Fear of losing our jobs. Fear of economic crash. Fear of losing control. Fear of losing our freedom.

Dictionary.com defines Fear as an unpleasant emotion caused by a belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or threat and defines Freedom as the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Liberty is not exactly the same as freedom though we use the words interchangeably. Liberty is a type or a subset of freedom that carries with it responsibility and duty. It’s the responsible use of freedom; a freedom with boundaries that are considerate of the freedom of others. It does not act selfishly but for the good of others.

Let us turn our focus to Liberty.

This is true liberty:

1 Corinthians 10:23-24

All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good but the good of his neighbor.

Quarantine is not about your freedoms being taken away. It’s about liberty. Liberty says that I am free as long as my actions do not infringe upon or take away the freedom of others. Can we look at this through the eyes of Liberty and with that freedom, love and consider others before and above ourselves?

Let us willingly, fearlessly, obey the strong suggestions, requests and orders of our leaders. Romans 13 says we all must obey those who rule over us. Those in authority serve God. It’s a conscious, humble act of submission to authority. God did not offer this up as an option. It’s a command. Honor God by honoring those in authority. Romans 13 goes on to remind us to love our neighbor as ourselves and that love does no harm to his neighbor. Can our love be identified in our obedience?

As men and women, brothers and sister in Christ, I encourage you to open the hand that clutches tightly to the fears that so easily overwhelm us and grab hold of Jesus, the anchor of our soul and our hope. Jesus said in John 16:33, “I have said these things so that you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble but take heart, I have overcome the world.”

Now the Lord is Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Cor. 3:17

Where the Spirit of the Lord is…