“for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:13
There is no doubt that God expects absolute and full surrender from us. God claims it from us, and He has the right to demand it from us. And though He wants to do great things in and through our lives, he cannot work with a half surrendered heart.
Imagine the pen in our pocket, and because the pen belongs to us, that pen must be absolutely surrendered to our hand if we are to write with it. If another holds it partly, we cannot write the way we want to write.
Similarly, we belong to God for His purpose, and unless He has full control over us, He won’t be able to use us the way he wants.
At the same time, God is not asking us to give the perfect surrender in our strength, or by the power of our will. Instead, it is God who accomplishes our surrender to him, and that is what we learn from our above passage “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure”.
We grieve the Holy Spirit by trying to accomplish absolute surrender by our self-will, self-confidence and self-effort. We have to learn to cast this self-life and flesh-life at the feet of Jesus and trust Him to accomplish it for us.
Brothers & sisters, let us learn to trust in our Saviour, let loose the firm grip we have on our strength, wisdom and abilities, and let him take reign of our lives.
Lord, forgive us for putting our trust on our corrupt and rotten flesh in accomplishing absolute surrender to you, instead, help us lean on you and in your strength and power.
The passage we will be looking at today is 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and the verse simply says
“Rejoice Always”
1 Thessalonians 5:16
Always Rejoice – meaning to feel or show great joy or delight…. Always
At this point you must be thinking, that’s absolutely impossible.
How can someone rejoice always?
I can rejoice sometimes, but definitely not always.
Why?
You might say…
“Because life is tough.”
“You don’t know what I’ve gone through in the
past, I’m still dealing with it”
“You don’t know what I am going through right
now, its unbearable sometimes”
“My job is the worst job in the world, during
this lockdown they make me work like a donkey”
“My company is least caring, they asked me to
sit at home without paying a penny.”
“My marriage is breaking apart, we are struggling”
“My education is at a standstill, I don’t know when I will finish my course and get a job, I don’t even know if I will get a job”
” In such a circumstance, if God is expecting me to Rejoice, that too not sometimes but always, how is that even possible? “
“It’s easy for Paul to write that, and it’s easy for Saju to say that, but they don’t know what I’m going through. My present circumstances are so tough that even thinking about Rejoicing in any manner is absolutely impossible.”
Brothers & sisters, if those are the thoughts running through your mind when you read today’s passage, or maybe I brought it out and reminded you of your hard life.
In this sermon, I want to leave you with a couple of thoughts to ponder upon which I believe will help you see the possibility of choosing to Rejoice Always.
I believe it is possible, I’ve met people in real life who I’ve seen rejoicing in the Lord
at all times.
I’ve read stories of missionaries and martyrs who’ve endured suffering, sickness, pain and even death with everlasting joy in their heart. I’ve heard of men lying on their death beds and yet rejoicing in their heart.
This morning, instead of giving you long
statements as pointers to remember, I want to give you three words to ponder
upon.
1. The first word is PERSPECTIVE
Perspective means to have a point of view, to
have a particular attitude towards or way of thinking regarding our present
hard circumstances, since most of the time it is our present suffering and pain
that is the greatest hurdle for us to rejoice always.
Here’s the perspective we need to cultivate regarding the context of the passage we just read. If we think our situation is the worst then I want us to look and ponder what’s going on with Paul and the Thessalonian church.
Paul is not writing to a church located in a city like us where the Christians have the freedom to practise their beliefs, where they are allowed to worship in open spaces and have the liberty to openly speak about Christ on an online public platform like Facebook or YouTube, where life is tough but not to the extent where believers are dragged out of their houses and killed and murdered for their faith in Jesus.
Instead, he is writing to a group of Christians who are being tortured, persecuted & killed by the worst punishment they could think of.
On the other hand, Paul is not writing this letter sitting on a beautiful balcony or a beachside hotel with a nice cool breeze hitting his face, but he is writing the letter from Corinth where he is labouring for the Gospel alongside Aquila and Pricilla, as was his ministry in other places.
I suppose he was making and repairing tents to protect the people from the hot Mediterranean sun and also preaching the Gospel, discipling the people and building the church, risking his life by putting himself in a dangerous position with Romans.
Even after Paul writing them to “Rejoice
Always”, their circumstances are not going to get better, history tells us that
some of them are going to be brutally killed and murdered for their faith in
Jesus.
And yet he is writing to the church “Rejoice
Always”.
Brothers & sisters, if we are waiting and hoping for our circumstances to look better so that we can rejoice always then that is not going to happen. The two reasons it won’t happen is firstly because as long as we are living on this earth we are living in a world that is broken and tarred by Sin.
When God created the world he did not mean to create it this way. The Bible tells us that he made it beautiful and meant it for good.
When he made the first man and woman, he wanted them to enjoy and be fruitful under the authority & dominion of His Majesty, primarily by walking in obedience to God’s instructions in humility and in complete surrender. But instead of walking in obedience, Adam & Eve disobeyed God and sinned in their hearts.
Romans 5:12 says
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”.
Romans 5:12
Because of our sins, the Bible says God’s
righteous judgement is upon this earth. Here’s how Isaiah describes the effects
of Sin on the earth in Isaiah 24:5
5 The earth is polluted by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath]
Isaiah 24:5-6
Brothers & sisters, as long as we live on this earth we are living under the curse that is upon this earth, and even though our spirit and soul is liberated in Christ.
Our body here on earth will continue to experience the pain of this broken world. We will always be walking on broken glasses under our feet as long as we live on this earth.
Even Jesus, being the perfect man who ever lived
on the earth had to suffer and experience the effect of this broken world in a
much more brutal way than any of us will ever suffer.
The second perspective I want us to have about our present circumstances is that God uses our sufferings to perfect us and make us mature in Him.
Do you know that our saviour Jesus was made perfect through sufferings. In Hebrews 5:8-9 it says
“Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him”
Hebrews 5:8-9
Brothers & Sisters, I urge you to look at your present pain & sufferings as a means by which God is perfecting you in Christ.
And if you can develop a right perspective
towards your present circumstances then ‘rejoicing always’ can definitely look
like a possibility.
2. The second word is BELIEVE
As we just learnt that it is not our present
circumstances that enables us to Rejoice always, but what should rather enable
us to rejoice always is the prospects of the eternal life we have in heaven
because of what Jesus did for us.
Even though we sinned and rebelled against God, instead of pouring His wrath on us and destroying our existence forever, our loving, gracious and merciful Father sent Jesus to bear our punishment and die for our sake and declare justice over us.
Isaiah 53:6 says,
“The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him,”
Hebrews 9:26 says,
“He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
Hebrews 2:17 says that Christ made “propitiation for the sins of the people” and 1 John 4:10 says “in this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Brothers & sisters, we rejoice in the fact that Jesus died for our sins and has reunited our broken hearts with our Heavenly Father once and forever.
And we receive this gift and stand justified when we repent of our sins and put our faith in Christ our saviour.
Therefore friends, if we
are failing today to rejoice always in the Lord, it is not because of our
circumstances but because of UNBELIEF in our heart.
Unbelief is the root cause of all our habitual sins, troubles and lack of joy. We are failing to believe that God’s grace, mercy and love expressed through the sacrifice of his Son is enough.
In Isaiah 45:22 the Lord says,
“Look to me and be saved”
Isaiah 53:6
Instead of looking at the
Son, Jesus, we are all the time looking at ourselves and our circumstances, we
are trying to make our life look better on our strength and ability so that we
can someday arrive at the destination we have planned where we will find
fulfilment and our joy will be complete.
We work hard, put in extra
hours in office, slog and break our bones.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that its wrong to work hard. In fact, God’s word clearly says that we should and that work is a gift. But our attitude is what matters.
Thinking that our efforts is what will sustain us and looking for joy apart from Christ is what is harmful.
We do good works, sometimes beyond our capacities and hope & expect that God will return the favour someday in hundredfold and then we will be happy.
Instead, what we ought to be doing is looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our Faith, trust in him and not in our strength and ability to make this imperfect life on earth perfect.
In Christ, we are totally 100% perfect for heaven, and that is what should make us rejoice always.
Brothers & sisters, as long as we nurture UNBELIEF in our hearts with regards to struggles, trials & temptations we go through in life, we will never be able to truly Rejoice always.
As long as we live on this earth, we need to live believing that his grace is sufficient for us, sufficient to justify us, to sanctify us, and take us to heaven with him.
Allow your heart to be
filled with that Joy.
3. The last and the final word I want to leave with you is REST.
Now, that we have the right PERSPECTIVE and
BELIEF, I want us to think of the word REST.
Rest, not just as a state of mind, where we are
resting in God’s sovereignty over our lives, his provision of abundant and
sufficient grace for us to live joyfully in his presence. But I want to talk
about REST which is also a command from the Lord – The Sabbath Rest.
Sabbath rest is not just a suggestion from God, its a Holy command from Him.
It is as important as “Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and soul”, It is one of the 10 commandments God gave to Moses, Exodus 20:8-11 God said
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
To obey the Sabbath literally means to cease
from all our human efforts and to look to God in prayer and devotion. As I
understand the Sabbath, I’ve come to believe that Sabbath rest is the
providence from God, not just for the sake of physical rest, but also to help
us realign our perspectives and refocus our belief on Him.
When we take rest from our human efforts we are
reaffirming the fact that in God we trust, as our ultimate source of provision,
peace and joy.
If you are struggling to Rejoice at the moment,
I want to ask when was the last time you rested in God from all your strivings
and efforts and hard work.
I know it is difficult and there are many excuses we can think of, our work responsibilities, our family commitments, etc.
But if working on our perspectives and dealing with our unbelief is important for us so that we can Rejoice always, we will have to give importance to the Sabbath rest, for some of you, it might require you to take drastic steps to say NO to extra work, maybe close yourself up in a room, maybe disconnect the phone for the day, say to NO to entertainment, etc.
A Restful heart will always be a joy-full heart.
Even in our busy schedules if we can find ways to soak ourself in scripture, devote ourself in prayer, sing songs of hope and thanksgiving, remembering the Gospel, looking at Jesus, resting in Him, then, brothers and sisters, the joy of the Lord will surely fill our hearts and keep us going.
We can become just like a small child who runs along the riverside with a stick in his hand and laughter in his mouth.
Though there is so much more I want to say but time is limited, I hope I have stirred something in your heart this morning and given you enough reasons to Rejoice always.
Please do remember the three words ..
PERSPECTIVE, BELIEVE & REST.
“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing” – Hebrews 5:11
About higher teachings on the scriptures, especially on the heavenly priesthood of Christ, Paul writes it’s hard to explain because you have become dull of hearing.
Making progress in Christ is essential for every child of God, and the primary way of achieving that is not by doing but by hearing, doing should follow the hearing. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” – Romans 10:17
In this modern and technology-driven world, the one thing that is affected the most is our capacity to hear and pay attention to God’s word communicated in all forms, mainly through the scriptures.
The solution is not to put away the things that distract us, and I’m not talking about developing mental power to become more attentive.
Spiritual truths can only be received by a Spiritual mind, by a heart that longs and thirst for God, and it begins with a deep love for Christ and a deeper understanding of the Gospel.
However, the goal is not to get stuck in the basic principles of the oracles of God, but rather aim to become teachers of this oracle (every believer, not just leaders and pastors) (Hebrews 5:12), and for that to happen, we have to develop an appetite for God’s word, by attentively hearing what God has to say to us.
Perhaps most of us fail because of laziness, reluctance to make the sacrifice needed for progress, and unwillingness to forsake all and follow Jesus.
Let’s search our hearts today and ask what’s stopping us from making progress in Christ.
Lord, forgive us for our laziness, reluctance to sacrifice, and forsake everything that stops me from growing in you.
I know things are not looking great and we still
don’t have any clue about when everything will return to normal. These are
tough days and we do understand the struggles you are going through. But in
these rough times our hope is that you are taking good care of yourselves
especially spiritually.
This morning, I believe, our passage from 1
Thessalonians 5:1-11 gives us some really wise and practical life lessons for
times like these.
After listening to Paul’s encouraging words to
the church in Thessalonica, we know for sure that these bunch of people were
genuine followers of Christ. This church was acclaimed for their undying Faith
by Paul, Timothy and the reports they received from churches.
That is why, we picked out this letter and named
our series “Abiding Faith”, because we want to learn and imitate these
Christians whose Faith was strong as a rock.
But what we see in these recent passages is even
though their lives were deeply rooted in Christ, they also had their moments of
anxieties and fears about the future, about their present difficult
circumstances, more so as there were many Christians tortured and put to death.
In verse 1 Paul writes
1. Now concerning the times and the seasons,
brothers
In this verse and the verses prior to these, we read how Paul is aware of what’s happening and his response to the church’s apprehension and that is why He opens up a dialogue where he is exhorting and teaching them how to live under these difficult circumstances.
I believe these words of Paul are equally
relevant to us today as we encounter various challenges and anxiousness due to
this pandemic. I hope these verse shifts
our focus to Christ and realigns our thoughts to Him.
There are 4 lessons we can learn from Paul dialogue with the Thessalian church
1. To Live in eager anticipation of the Lord’s coming.
The first lesson we learn is to “live in eager
anticipation of the Lord’s coming’. Look at verse 2 with me
2. For you yourselves are fully aware that
the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
In saying this, Paul is also referring to what he already mentioned in 4:16 “For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout”. You see, brothers & sisters, it’s the promise Christ gave them before he ascended to heaven in Matthew 24:44 when He said: “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may also be.”
These verses and many others clearly tell us that there will be a sudden, personally visible, bodily return of Christ.
Now, there is a lot of speculation among people with respect to the day of Christ’s coming. Some say Jesus will come anytime now. I remember when I was a kid we went to this church where the Pastor was a Muslim convert.
As far as I remember he was a radical preacher. He would always keep saying “Jesus is coming, are you ready?”, in every message he preached, His house was filled with verses and pictures of Jesus’s coming. I remember one particular picture of Jesus descending from heaven and people being lifted up to him.
And then there are others who believe that there is still time for the return of Christ since they claim that there are events mentioned in the scriptures that are yet to happen which are –
Preaching of the Gospel to all nations (Mark 13:10)
The Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:15-22)
False Prophets working signs & wonders (Mark 13:22)
Signs in heaven (Mark 13:24-25)
Appearance of a Man of Lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10)
I giving you references so you can read and study them.
Now, when we look back at history there are certain junctures that would seem like these events have already happened. Now, we won’t go into those details, but in some ways, it seems appropriate to conclude that the predictions of these events may have already been fulfilled. We are free to have our opinions and not quarrel over it. It’s secondary.
But what I want to lead our hearts into is, regardless of our conviction related to either of these views, scriptures clearly suggest that we should stay vigilant and live in eager anticipation of the Lord’s coming.
In Matthew 24:42-44 Jesus said “42 Therefore,
stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know
this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the
thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house
be broken into.44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is
coming at an hour you do not expect.”
In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 3, Paul gives us a picture of how the world is living. He says “While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
Brothers & sisters, as children of God, let
us not be oblivious and unprepared. Whether you are a full-time worker, or
running a business, or studying, volunteering for any kind of job, working from
home or taking care of various needs of your family at home, whatever it may
be, day in and day out we ought to be alert, ready and waiting expectantly for
our Savior’s return because this will keep us hopeful.
My Dad coming home
In a similar way, regardless of the outcomes of
the present crisis, we have hope that we will be with Jesus in heaven. It keeps
our hearts and minds focused on the heavenly things, to desire and dream for
the things that truly matter. And helps us to stay watchful from the deceptions
(Fasav) of this world.
2. To live daily with an assurance that we are truly saved and redeemed.
The second important lesson we learn from this
passage us “ To live daily with an assurance that we are truly saved and
redeemed”.
We see that in Verse 4-5
4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for
that day to surprise you like a thief.
5 For you are all children of light, children
of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.
In verse 8-9 Paul goes on to remind them the
Gospel saying …
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be
sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the
hope of salvation.
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but
to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us so that whether we are
awake or asleep we might live with him.
Brothers & sisters, what Christ has done for
us is so precious. You see, while we were sinners and rebels, doing whatever
our sinful hearts desired, the Bible says “Christ died fo us”.
As we process this truth, we need to have a
deeper understanding of the gift of this Gospel that offered us freedom from
slavery to Sin, a new identity in Christ, a relationship that was sealed by the
Holy Spirit that confirms our unity with Christ.
Remember that moment when the scales fell off
from our eyes when Jesus came into your heart and transformed our life. When we
repented of our sins and turned our hearts to Christ, He showered His
unconditional love upon us and welcomed us into his family.
Therefore brothers & sisters, do not let the
deceiver deceive you and tell you otherwise. Don’t let any doubt linger in your
heart but be confident and assured of your salvation in Christ.
We need to say with the same confidence like Paul
said in Romans 8:31-35
If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him
up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s
elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one
who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who
indeed is interceding for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword? – Nothing can separate us from the love of God
A strong conviction and assurance in our Salvation give us courage, boldness and strength when we are weak. So, remind the gospel to your heart daily.
3. To live a Morally and Spiritually engaged lives.
The third lesson we learn from this passage is
to live morally and spiritually engaged lives.
Here Paul writes in verse 6 & 7.
6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but
let us keep awake and be sober.
7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and
those who get drunk, are drunk at night.
To sleep and to get drunk is to lose all
consciousness. The context of the word ‘sleep’ in this passage means to be
unengaged & unprepared. Paul says this is how the people of the night,
people who live in darkness live their lives.
The world has no moral compass and therefore
they live selfish and broken lives, but that is not who we are. We are children
of the light, the salt of this world, and therefore our conduct and our
behaviour matters to God. And through the same grace that enabled us to put our
faith in Christ at the time of our salvation, and the same grace that will one
day take us to heaven is also the very grace given to us now so that we can
live a victorious life in Christ.
God’s expectation from us is to be Holy as He is
Holy, not to live as a lazy and sluggard person and therefore He’s has provided
his grace to overcome all kinds of temptations, what is required of us is to
put our faith in Him, the same child-like faith that we displayed during our
conversion, the same child-like faith that believes we will be taken up in
heaven. We don’t need an increased faith to overcome sinful temptations, when
Jesus’s disciples went to Jesus and asked Him to increase their faith He said
“If you have a faith as small as a mustard seed you can move mountains”. What
is this small little temptation we are talking about?
God is accomplishing a great thing in this world
and he is accomplishing it through you and me, what God has done to us and what
is doing in us is not a small thing, therefore, my brothers, my sisters, will
you stay awake & engaged? I mean to desire to live morally and spiritually
engaged lives for the Glory of God, with the strength and grace He provides. So
that He can use us and save many more like us.
4. To live purposefully by encouraging and building one another
And finally the last lesson we learn from this
passage is to live purposefully by encouraging and building one another.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build
one another up, just as you are doing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
We are a family, and we need encouragement, we
need support. We need our brothers and sisters to stand with us in hard times,
to mourn with us in our sorrows, to rejoice in our victories. We find joy,
encouragement and hope when brothers or sisters reminds us God’s love if my
heart becomes weary, and warns us from falling into sins when our hearts draw
us astray. We need leaders and elders to enlighten us from God’s word and give
us the right perspective towards life and the challenges we go through. We need
Godly friends to lighten our burdens when we feel lonely and depressed.
Church, let us be sensitive towards one another,
what we need is what even others need. The
joy of giving is better than the joy of receiving. In hard times like
these, people need encouragement and comfort just as we need it.
There is so much room & opportunity God has
provided for us to be involved in serving others and find happiness in doing
so.
I suggest that we make it a goal every day to
reach out to atleast one person and encourage them in the Lord, remind the
Gospel to each other, pray for each other, and give them the confidence that
there is someone they can reach out to when in need.
This will definitely uplift our spirit and keep us alive and active.
Community is a beautiful gift from God and therefore let’s make every effort to benefit from it.
Finally, let me conclude by reminding the four
lessons we learned today.
1. To Live in eager anticipation of the Lord’s coming.
2. To live daily with an assurance that we are
truly saved and redeemed.
3. To live a Morally and Spiritually engaged
lives.
4. To live purposefully by encouraging and
building one another
“You are my hope in the day of trouble” – Jeremiah 17:17
Storms and troubles in a believer’s life is inevitable, it will come. Don’t believe those who say that a Christian will always enjoy a prosperous and happy life all the time.
I’m saying this confidently that our Lord said, “In this world you will have troubles.” In fact, we need these storms because they help exercise our faith in Christ. It tears down our self-dependence nature and make us more firmly rooted in Christ.
The day of evil and trouble reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.
Brothers and sisters, let us not become resentful and turn away from seasons in life, rather let us embrace them because ultimately they draw us nearer to Christ as we continue to hope and find our refuge in Him.
Lord, in days of trouble, help us to find our hope in you and not in ourselves; to be Christ-dependent and not self-dependent.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
Imagine a man drowning in a sinking sand and right before he is about to drown, help arrives! The rescuer throws him a rope but and unless the drowning man grabs it with a tight grip, he wont get to see the world again.
In the same way, brothers & sisters, as we face trails and temptations of various kinds, our God is near us, to help and rescue us from sinking into our pain and misery. Psalms 46 verse 1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
But even though he is near us, we often fail to reach out to Him for help. We ask for little of Him. We often fail to go to Him for counsel, we go about our business without seeking His guidance.
Brother & sisters, God is close to us! It’s our fault that we don’t utilize all that He has freely made available to us. We need to grow in more awareness of His presence, of all that He is to us and given us.
Remember, by offering His beloved son, Jesus Christ, God has already shown his willingness to rescue us from all our misery. “….but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12
Let’s hold tight onto the rope!
Lord, help us to realise how close you are to us and be willing to take full benefit of your loving kindness and your invitation to offer help at all times.
“I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord” – Psalms 27:13-14
The above verse was one of the promising words that I read when I was a young Christian going through a turmoil in my life. It brought me such a deep sense of comfort and also challenged me to become strong and courageous while waiting on the Lord for the right time.
After many years, today, as I look back I can certainly say that I have seen His goodness and He rescues me from all troubles.
Our God is a promise keeping God; no matter how difficult our circumstances may seem today, if we wait for the Lord, we will be strong and courageous, we will surely see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Meanwhile, let us ponder on His greatest goodness which He has already shown to us on the cross of calvary by taking away the burden of sin and shame from our shoulders. Let us enjoy the sweet freedom of a burden-less life and the presence of the all-powerful Spirit that enables us to walk blameless and holy in the presence of God.
Let us also fill our hearts with the hope of the glorious future in heaven with God. Let Jesus be the anchor to which we hold on to as we also wait for His goodness to be manifested on earth in His time.
Lord, help us to wait on you with strength, courage and hope in our hearts until the day you shower your choicest blessings on us.
“Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!” – Psalm 25:7
When we think of our younger days, I’m sure we all have our unique lists of sinful behavior and acts of rebellion that we nurtured in our souls. But God being faithful, gracious and merciful, extended His grace towards us, leading us into repentance and adopted us into His family.
Through His Son, Christ Jesus, He has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:7) and He remembers it no more (Hebrews 8:12). Therefore, our identity today is not defined by what we did in our past life but it is defined by the present truth of what God’s word has to say about us and what He thinks of us. And God’s word says, There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1). The old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our old self is dead and exists no more.
Brothers and sisters, because of who we are in Christ, we have a future that is not subjective to our past life but we have a future where we embark on this beautiful journey of discovering our true self the way God intended it to be when He formed us in our mother’s womb (Psalms 139:13). He calls us His chosen and His beloved.
But even though our destiny is confirmed in heaven (Hebrews 13:14), God performs His sanctifying work in us so that while we are on earth (2 Thessalonians 2:13), we can live like His sons and daughters bringing glory and honor to His name in the way we love Him, love others, in our attitudes, conduct and a life of purity. Let us surrender ourselves into the hands of the Potter, allowing Him to mould and shape us the way He pleases.
Lord, we thank you for your deep work in our hearts. We once led a life of shame but now we are shining vessels for your glory.
“… we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” – 1 John 2:1b
The job of an advocate is to defend his client from any accusation impended upon him by the opposite party. Yet, in order for the advocate to effectively defend the case, the client has to completely unmask and reveal all about himself so that the advocate would know him and his situation better. Then on the basis of what he knows about the client and the situation, the advocate then has to gather the evidence to prove the innocence of his client and save his life from perishing.
In our case, we are the guilty one. We have undoubtedly committed the crime of breaking the law of God, in living a life of disobedience because of which we deserve penalty. Legally that would mean us being sentenced to life imprisonment or death but instead, the advocate offers us a bargain that can rescue us from this penalty of our sinful acts, something we don’t deserve.
In the courtroom of God where our punishment is already declared, Christ our advocate, knocks at our door offering us hope. If we open the door and confess the true state of our hearts, the sins we have committed against God, the wickedness we tolerate in and around us, then based on our repentant response to His call, Christ establishes the evidences required to prove our innocence. The evidences are His nail pierced hands, the whips on His back, the blood spilled on the ground, his crown pierced brow, the cross where the penalty for our sins is already been paid for.
After presenting the evidence just like any other advocate, He pleads our innocence to God, the righteous judge, to set us free and the judge declares, ‘Not Guilty!’
Brothers and sisters, all we can offer to our loving and gracious advocate in return for His bountiful, undeserving grace and forgiveness is to pledge our whole lives in humble surrender, growing in faith and love in His service, who promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us even when we fail and falter in our Christian walk.
Lord, help us to understand the value of the price you paid with your own life to save a wicked, guilty and sinful person like me.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. – Psalm 23:3
In the corporate world, a well establish brand needs to be very careful in maintaining the brand image, every decision they make in the company can make or break their brand name and reputation in the market.
From hiring the right employees to designing the perfect product to delivering quick customer service, to communicating the marketing message, everything matters.
Similarly, God is also about His name and his brand image. He shows a lot of concern when His name is at stake. The Psalmist in the above verse is saying, “For His name sake, He renews our life, and leads us also in the paths of righteousness.
We see God’s sensitivity towards His name, even in the Old testament. In the story of Joshua, when the Israelites lost the battle against a city called Ai, in Joshua 7:9, Joshua says to God, “For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?” – Joshua 7:9
Joshua knew how much God cares about His name and that He will do anything to preserve and protect His great name from being defamed by others.
Brothers & sisters, as children of this most high God, when we go through trials of various kinds, when we face temptations of all sorts, do not be worried or dismayed thinking that God is not watching you or that He doesn’t care. If you have genuinely repented of your sins and surrendered your life to God, and if in His eyes you are His child and possession, remember, He has done everything to restore and renew our lives from the present momentary struggles.
He will undoubtedly lead us into the paths of righteousness.
You know why? Because God’s higher goal in doing so is to preserve His Name and brand image. God is glorifying himself through His creation, which includes us, His chosen sons and daughters, predestined before the creation of this world through His son Jesus.
Our response should be that of a faithful servant, humbly bowing our head at His throne of grace, mercy and greatness and follow his leading without questioning.
Lord, your name is great and greatly to be praised. Help us to lean on you and find rest and comfort in knowing that you are renewing our lives each day for your name’s sake.
