One of the greatest things that we can be completely sure of is this…”Those who seek Me find Me.” (Proverbs 8:17) We don’t have to guess if God hears us if we turn to Him in humility, contrition, and prayer. If we are seeking His Presence in personal devotion, we will find Him. And the more consistent we are, the deeper God will take us…showing us His awesome power, mighty acts, and divine revelation…for our good & His glory.
Not once, not twice, but three times Peter loudly denied he even knew Jesus. This was Simon, the man Jesus gave the new name Peter, (the rock)…redefining who Simon Peter was & his destiny in John 1:42. This was the same Simon Peter who enthusiastically followed Jesus, eating, traveling, and ministering beside Him for three years. But suddenly in the heat of the moment, Simon Peter’s humanness had taken control and he distanced himself and denied his fellowship with his Savior…three times he disowned the Christ he had so confessed in Mark 8:29. But the true testimony of this story is two fold…we see human weakness at its very worst & we see the greatness of God’s mercy at its finest. For Jesus not only restored Peter but used him despite his shameful failure. “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church.” (Matthew 16:18)
Someone once said there were 7,474 promises of God in the Bible, and all I can say is Wow! So why then is it so easy for any upset in our life to cause us to question God’s trustworthiness…or shake us from staying the course set before us…or cause us to doubt our confidence in Him? God is faithful, His promises are always Yes & Amen, for “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” (Joshua 21:45) So we can confidently put our hope & faith in Him when He says to us…”Believe in Me”…”Accept Me”…”Hold on to Me”…Walk with Me”…”Trust in Me”…Wait with Me”.
For most of my adult life I lived in Idaho, and come Spring when the snowpack in the mountains started to melt, the Snake River would start becoming turbulent and furious. The Corp. of Engineers at Palisades Dam & Reservoir would carefully monitor snow melt, level of the reservoir, and river flow…but if the Spring runoff was large due to high Spring temperatures, a lot of water was sent down the Snake River. We’d often travel down to Twin Falls then to see Shoshone Falls in all its furor. This falls is one of the largest in the United States…standing 212 feet tall & 900 feet wide, and during the Spring when there’s a heavy snowpack melting rapidly, it can reach flows of upwards of 20,000 CFS (cubic feet per second). The noise of the water crashing over the Falls was deafening, the mist caused by the ferocity of the water hung like a fog in the valley…it was scary looking. In sharp contrast, I read this verse and can only imagine the quietness & stillness of the waters the Lord is beckoning us to here. Still waters that offer restoration for our dry & parched spirits, and rest for our weary bodies. Today, the Lord is saying, “Come away with Me, My child. I have a quiet place for you to rest. It’s a place where you can peacefully open your heart to Me.”
Broken bodies & broken hearts. You may have friends & family going through very difficult times right now, I know I do. You may also feel, as I, at a loss for what I can do. Encouraging those that are fatigued from major surgery, fearful of impending pathology reports, or coping with profound sorrow don’t need our unsolicited advice, war stories about our own surgeries, or raucous pep talks. What they need is for us to provide words of true comfort…compassion in their vulnerable state…and proclaiming God’s Word in the midst of their turmoil. Yes, progress may be slow & unpredictable…but each step forward is a victory however small. And as we continue to encourage, assist, uphold, and pray for…we know the Great Physician, who knit us together in the womb, will take the unraveled threads of their life and piece them lovingly back together… rebuilding mind, body, and spirit.
John was referring back to Jesus when He said in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” But even this is a new take on the Old Testament Scriptures from Leviticus 19:18 that taught God’s people to, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The “new ” part is found in the word changes Jesus used. He changed neighbors (a specific group) to one another (a much broader group)… and yourself (a selfish & personal love) – to as I have loved you (the sacrificial love of Christ). So it becomes both a old and new commandment…old because love is defined by all God’s commandments, and new because we are to continually reapply the love of Christ in our everyday acts of love for one another.
An ever-present danger for Christians today is self-reliance. It can quietly and insidiously creep into our life as God uses us more and more. How? We start to put our confidence in ourselves and our abilities and talents rather than acknowledging that it is God, not us, that is accomplishing it. Pride and boasting gives way to a false sense of hope and self-sufficiency…that sadly always has disastrous results. We need then to remain humble and fully reliant on God and His divine power…for only He is trustworthy to deliver us from all obstacles that come our way…something of which we should readily admit we’re completely incapable of doing for ourselves.
The great Theologian, Charles Spurgeon, once said, “The brightest gem in the crown of God is His goodness.” And as any Believer who’s had a personal experience of God’s goodness in their life…we can add a hearty Amen! Numerous places in the Psalms we can read of God’s goodness towards us, “You are forgiving & good, O Lord.” (Psalm 86:5) “God is good & what He does is good.” (Psalm 119:68) and we can’t forget Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness & mercy will follow me all the days of my life, as I dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” But we can not just receive God’s goodness for ourselves…we must emulate it to others. (Galatians 5:22) And as we display God’s goodness to others… the moral quality of it…kindness, gentleness, & goodwill will shine forth as brightly as His crown.
The spiritual gift of giving to the needs of others should be done with a joyful heart…whether it’s money, food, or time. We are to give generously without a grudging heart, (Deuteronomy 15:10) nor with ulterior motives that just make us look good. That’s because the reason & attitude of why we give is as important as the actual giving. Paul talks about this in II Corinthians 8:11-12 when he writes, “Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means, For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.” So it’s not about quantity but quality…nor is it giving under duress…it’s rather giving with a joyful heart & glorifying God in the process.
This verse tells of the two way street so to speak we have with the Lord . God isn’t fickle…He doesn’t change His mind, and He keeps all His promises. So we can have all confidence in Him that He will do what He says. That’s because God’s love & faithfulness is steadfast and true, and so our relationship with Him can be the same. And as we glory in His ever present light, we will find salvation, wisdom, and life.
Safetypinlove 