He goes before me

When we were children, we played “follow the leader” — a game that few play these days. People complain that there are few leaders worth following, but human nature tends to resist words like yield, submission and accountability. We prefer to go our own way.

After the trials of the past couple of weeks, I’m appreciating these words about following my leader more than I used to. This bout of feeling helpless, without strength or direction, gives me a strong desire to take the hand of God and go where He wants me to go.

Today, Spurgeon’s devotional is about the leadership of Christ, not so much that He is capable of leading (which He is), but that no matter what I experience, He has been there and has conquered all threats. He truly paves the way.

He who opens the breach goes up before them; they break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king passes on before them, the LORD at their head. (Micah 2:13)

Spurgeon uses this verse as inspiration to say that because Jesus has gone before us, things are not the same as they would have been had He never passed that way. He has conquered every enemy and obstruction that rose before Him.

For that reason, I’ve no reason to be fainthearted. He has traveled the same road and dealt with all that threatens me, opening a safe passage. As Spurgeon says, I’ve no need to fear the power of sin for Jesus has nailed it to His cross. I have no need to fear death for He died and rose again. He gives me the same life, His life, that conquered the grave and rose to live forever. I need not fear Satan, for his destiny is certain and he also has been defeated.

Spurgeon uses poetic words to say that whatever foes may be before any Christian, they are all overcome. “There are lions, but their teeth are broken; there are serpents, but their fangs are extracted; there are rivers, but they are bridged or fordable; there are flames, but we wear that matchless garment which renders us invulnerable to fire. The sword that has been forged against us is already blunted; the instruments of war which the enemy is preparing have already lost their point.”

Christ has taken away all the power that anything can have or use to hurt me. I can safely move ahead, even joyously go along my journey because all my enemies are conquered beforehand and my Savior is leading me forward.

 “Proclaim aloud the Savior’s fame,
Who bears the Breaker’s wond’rous name;
Sweet name; and it becomes him well,
Who breaks down earth, sin, death, and hell.”

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Father, I thank You for the power of Jesus Christ who goes before me. Nothing can defeat Him.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37–39)

I also thank You for the total reliability of Your love, for nothing can separate me from it either.

On the podium

In ancient times, when an army conquered a land, they took the spoils of victory and paraded them. Then they divided those spoils among the people. This is described in Psalm 68:18, “You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, even from the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell there.”

Paul quotes this verse in his letter to the church at Ephesus. He says in Ephesians 4:7-8, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.’”

In the Old Testament, the emphasis is on the leader who receives or gains ‘gifts’ from those who rebelled against him. In the New Testament this is applied to Christ who conquers sin and death and the emphasis is on the giving of gifts. My devotional reading says this applies to even the rebellious.

Actually, is there anyone who has never rebelled against God? Since only Jesus is perfectly obedient, all that God gives humanity in general and individuals in particular is given only to rebels. Not one person deserves the blessings of the Lord, and for good reason. We all fall short; we all are rebels at heart.

Sometimes I do something dumb and then ask, “Why did I do that?” because I know better. It is as if I forget that I am a sinner living in a fallen world. It is as if I think I should never fail. After all, I am a child of God. Hmm. My devotional author says,

If we were always patient, meek, holy, submissive, never harassed by the devil, and never felt the workings of corruption, we would begin to think we had some power to please God in ourselves, and would slight and neglect a precious Savior. But when taught by painful experience what a depraved nature and rebellious heart we carry in our bosom, when the Lord lets down a little mercy and grace into our soul, we then know the blessed quarter whence it comes, and learn to abhor ourselves and bless His holy name.

He is correct. The blessings of God are given in mercy. After all, a conquering king does not have to give the spoils to the people he conquered. History shows this is indeed rare. In fact, those who overpower others usually take, not give.

Not so with Jesus. He simply breaks all human rules and practices. When He won my heart and paraded His victory, He also offered me, the loser, everything that belongs to Him. By that, I stand with Him as a defeated rebel, but also as a total winner.