A Joyful Noise

An OT passage telling the Israelites about their future home says: “The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.” (Ezekiel 48:35) Another prophet says: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.” (Zechariah 2:10)

In the NT, Jesus ends the great commission with “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) adding to what He’d already said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20) The last book sums it up:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3–4)

The entire Bible gives assurance to the people of God this one answer to our fears and anxieties of facing life alone, or without help, or worse — without Him. He says, “I will be with thee” and did not need to say more. His presence guaranteed all our needs would be supplied. At the moment of this assurance, all fear vanishes and bold confidence returns.

For most of the week, it seemed God was far away. I’ve not had that sense for a long time, not since a classic book described His presence being like the air around me. Yesterday, I expressed this horrible feeling of being abandoned, a return to my biggest fear. I did not want to pray as it seemed He was not here to listen. My emotions were low, as if nothing mattered. I had asked what to do with my time in this new place — no answer. It seemed He was saying nothing.

Then I went to my usual Thursday time of prayer. One other person came and we talked about our burdens and as we did, that promise about “where two or three are gathered in my name” became a reality. The sense of His presence returned along with assurance that He had never left.

This seemed a ‘new Christian’ test, not for old timers like me, but it was a test — and a reminder that the foundations are always important. God’s eternal presence with His people is a foundation. I do not need His surprises or answers to prayer to know that He is always with me. Was I headed in that direction? Not sure, but certainly glad that this test didn’t last longer than it did.

What amazed me (again) is that I did not do anything to get from darkness back to light. God did that. My praying friend started talking about a mutual concern and did not say anything profound, but in the middle of it, the Lord seemed to fill the room with light and my heart with joy. Later, when I got home, an email came with some good news about a lost item being found. Then later, more news of a relative who had a stroke and was expected to die, but he is laughing and communicating with a whiteboard. More answered prayer.

PRAY: Jesus, Your presence first, then joy, then answered prayers and more joy. “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11) What more to say than to make a joyful noise to You with songs of praise!

Trusting my Father

Yesterday a person was unkind toward me, not realizing it or apologizing. At first I felt sad for myself, then sad for that person because she obviously does not know the effect of her actions and often does the same thing to others. She also does not know Jesus, the Giver of wisdom and love.

This incident gave me a greater burden for the lost, for this person in particular but also for others who do the same thing toward people without realizing that their behavior is unloving. Besides, I’ve done the same thing and felt the sting of conviction and the shame of being unkind. This is something that the Holy Spirit can take care of in the right way and the right time. I need to trust God for this.

Today’s devotional talks again about the beauty of a healthy child/father relationship and how it illustrates the relationship of a Christian to our Heavenly Father. However, that comparison is not always the best.

USA statistics say 43% of US children live without their father. 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes. 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes. Statistics Canada are somewhat better with about 13% of children in fatherless households.

These children can suffer lasting damage such as poverty, dropping out of school, addicted to drugs, having children out of wedlock, or living a life of crime and ending up in prison. Being without a father or having a bad father strongly affects a child and strongly affects a child’s view of God.

My father was always there, and a good person. However, my parents were told I would not live past 16 so they spoiled me by providing most things that I wanted. When I became a Christian, I thought God would be like that. It was an adjustment to realize that He is not. Certainly He wants the best for me, but for a few years I had to learn that His best was not the same as my ideas.

Yet the marvel of God is that He does give all things to His children — all things that are good for us. Trusting Him means this:

So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (1 Corinthians 3:21–23)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:29)

This isn’t about stuff. It is about being like Jesus, having the fullness of all that He is and bearing the fruit of the Spirit so I am joyful, at peace, contented, and loving Him and others. It means that I can trust Him to take care of my life, reputation, needs, emotions, desires, and ability to deal with whatever comes along. I’ve often called myself ‘God’s spoiled brat’ because His care is so totally undeserved and always a blessing and even a surprise.

He is a good Father. He actually is like my dad but instead of giving me what I want, He changed my wants! I don’t need to worry about physical needs or any other kind of needs. Holding His hand is enough to show me that all my riches are in Christ. He is enough.

PRAY: Jesus, it is good to be overwhelmed with a thankful heart. You supply all I need and the contentment to be satisfied with it. Yes, there are times when I feel left out, ignored, or neglected, but negativity comes from thinking the world’s thoughts, or wanting stuff that my old nature wants, or listening to the devil’s lies. Protecting me from my spiritual enemies and from errors in what I want, is the Father’s job and again, I’m thankful for His care.

Satisfied, no matter what happens?

 

On our vacation south, it became obvious that the media accounts from there do not match the attitudes of the general population. I was impressed with the open friendliness and gracious actions of all that we met. None of that reflected news of shootings, riots, and lawlessness.

MacArthur makes a different comparison. He writes of a time when he witnessed angry mobs in his city who killed people and set of buildings on fire. During the chaos, people ransacked and looted stores with even moms, dads, and little children loading their vehicles anything they wanted.

He described this as “the most graphic demonstration of lawlessness” he had ever seen and a vivid display of the selfishness in human hearts unrestrained by law and order. He called it the results of a “me first” condition where instant gratification takes priority and said it was as if they were saying, “I’m not satisfied with the way life’s treating me, so I’m entitled to grab everything I can — no matter who gets hurt in the process.”

His contrasted this with a passage in the NT that describes OT believers, summing it up with:

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:13–16)

Those people of faith trusted God in whatever circumstances they experienced. He had promised them a wonderful land of their own, but they never possessed it. Instead, they were strangers and refugees even in their own land, yet they looked forward to a better place — that heavenly country that would be theirs for eternity.

I tend not to think about the future when times are tough. Instead, I try to focus on the goodness and wisdom of God and that He has a good plan for whatever I am experiencing. I can think about being with Jesus, both now and forever but other than that, the future is not my here-and-now hope, because life is never certain. I could spend the rest of my life in relative ease, or be a victim of riots and looters, or a painful accident or illness.

Yet in all those possibilities, my faith is learning that I can trust God. He knows the past, the present and the future all at the same time. What He says for my eternal well-being is as true now as it will be when it happens. Because of that, I can trust Him. I’ve not made a list, nor do I focus on earthbound hopes and dreams. I’ve thought how my life may have been different if that were so, yet I am not dissatisfied because of His calling to simply trust in His promises, do as He asks (even though I mess up often). I can set my sights on my heavenly home but choose instead to keep the will of God for this moment, this hour and day, before my face.

PRAY: Jesus, I’m amazed at the grace and blessing of contentment and at the thrill of experiencing You in all of life, accomplishing Your will and often doing it in such a way that it is a lovely surprise. Thank You.

PONDER: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)

 

 

This raging war . . .

 

MacArthur begins today’s devotional with, “Spiritual warfare can be intense, but God’s grace enables you to prevail against Satan’s attacks.” I say, “Amen!”

Last night, I had another horrible dream. This is unusual for me as my dreams are mostly funny. I sometimes wake up laughing, but not this time. A terrible thing happened years ago and it took me a long time to forgive and move forward. The dream was a recurrence of that incident and I woke up thinking that maybe I feared it would happen again in real life. The emotional pain was deep, severe. I wanted to die.

But then Jesus came and whispered, “You are feeling my pain.” At that it seemed that my horrid thoughts were put to death, or I died to them, and Jesus filled me with His peace. This reminded me of Paul’s words about suffering the loss of all things, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10–11) He was not talking about physical death and resurrection but about being like Jesus and dying to all that would prevent him from living the resurrected life.

MacArthur says, “Through the ages Satan has accused, besieged, and battered believers trying to prevent them from living to the glory of God. He attempts to snatch the gospel message from a person’s heart even before salvation occurs: “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” (Matthew 13:19)

This spiritual enemy bombards God’s people with false doctrine to prevent us from growing up. God provides otherwise because He wants us to “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:13–14)

Attacks come as lies against biblical teaching, or in the sinful behavior of others, or in anything that will deceive so we cannot function as mature Christians. Martin Luther reported such intense conflict that he could almost see Satan. He was so angry that he hurled his inkwell at him. It left stains on the wall that stayed there, reminding all who saw them that spiritual conflict is real and vivid.

My dream was conflict too, not against the people in it, but against the spiritual forces of evil. For this, God says:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10–12)

Years ago, I read this unusual spiritual discipline as a remedy when severely attacked. When threatened, go to a place alone and feel the threat, letting it wash over you as if it is happening, but do not fight it. Instead, let it come at you as if it is crucifying you — then you will be released from it by the resurrection life of Christ.

At that time, my fear was of being abandoned and when I did this, that fear died and has never returned. This time, Jesus helped me do it again, letting the sense of being deeply wounded wash over me until it seemed that I died and Christ’s life took over. I know this sounds weird, but can only say that Jesus knows how to save His people — from whatever threats we experience!

PRAY: Jesus, this week Satan’s onslaughts seemed overwhelming. But You are answering prayer and I need to see these attacks for what they are — my enemy’s last-ditch efforts to inflict damage on a conquering child of God. Besides, what I experience is nothing compared to what You went through to defeat him. I know You will strengthen and protect me, just as You have protected all Your people. This verse keeps running through my mind: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

PONDER: Read Acts 4:1–22 and consider that I need to answer Satan’s attacks the same way, by always doing whatever God tells me to do, even using any attacks to experience spiritual victory and bring praise to Jesus Christ for protecting me and being with me in the battle.