Safetypinlove

I Samuel 3:1 tells us that, “In those days the Word of the Lord was rare.”… all because of Israel’s great sin. People could still read God’s Word, but it was like reading a story book. The words were dead on the pages, and with no one to explain the meaning, the people did not accept its message. This famine of God’s Word & Presence was even more devasting than a severe lack of food & water…for while a need of food & water is deadly for the physical body, a lack of spiritual food that nourishes the soul is truly disastrous looking at eternity. A famine of God’s Word has got to be the ultimate picture of God’s judgment on His people…for there’s nothing more terrifying as God’s silence.

For many of us the Pandemic caused us to self-isolate…out of fear, anxiety, and mandate. But sadly, many of us are still in that seclusion mode. We continue to work from home, rarely go out, and wouldn’t even think of inviting people into our safe cocoon. We’ve become accustomed to and even draw comfort from our cloistered and solitary lifestyle where we can control our environment. But this Scripture tells us to practice hospitality. That’s because Biblical hospitality is a generous & gracious reception of guests into our homes and more importantly into our lives…and thus opening up ourselves in a transparent & honest candor. Now while the world’s definition of hospitality is self-centered, closed off, selective, selfish and only done when & if we feel like it, we are to welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us. (Romans 15:7) For to love one another as brothers & sisters in Christ, we need to practice hospitality.

This wasn’t the first time the Jewish Leaders attempted to entangle Jesus by insisting on a miraculous work with the fingerprints of God on it. But Jesus never performed miracles on demand, and for them to command one “from heaven” only went to show their stubborn refusal to acknowledge that Jesus was indeed the Messiah they were waiting for. In His conversation with them, Jesus observes the irony that they can distinguish the signs in the sky to predict the weather, but fail to fully grasp what His miraculous signs signify about the “Spiritual weather” or season they were currently living in…namely, the era of the Coming Messiah. So the sign of Jonah signifies the parallel & preview between Jonah spending three days and three nights in the belly of the fish before being “resurrected” onto dry land and Jesus spending three days and three nights in the heart of the earth before being resurrected into glory. (Matthew 12:38-40)

This week I had the unfortunate opportunity to deal with a Contractor & our Insurance Company. After many phone calls trying to tie up all the loose ends, I was done for the night. So the Lord & I had a long conversation about showing kindness and mercy to others and how a good name, integrity, & a good reputation wins favor not only with God but man. If we live godly lives with good common sense, righteous moral character, and virtuous understanding, we will find respect, helpfulness, and favorable treatment before men.

Jesus is teaching us here that self-sacrifice, self-surrender, wholehearted service, and total obedience to the Lord is not a burden but rather a joyful expression of submission. Jesus endured the Cross in anticipation of the joy of becoming our Lord & Savior…His total obedience was His joy…the joy of doing that which His Father had sent Him to earth to do…and fulfilling it to the last letter. (Hebrews 12:2) So in this Scripture we see Jesus praying that our joy might continue to fulfill itself until it becomes the same joy as His. And how does this happen? It happens within a right relationship with God, for this is where we will find our personal joy. And as we find our joy & delight in Him, we are blessed…and able to be a blessing to others.

On a large part, Americans don’t honor the elderly among them as other cultures do. Many times we just push them aside…because they walk so much slower than us, are sometimes forgetful, and aren’t as useful as they once were. But thankfully God doesn’t look at the aged in the same way. Their bodies may be withered and their strength spent, but God says they can still bear fruit in old age, (Psalm 92:14) and He reassures them in Isaiah 46:4 that He will sustain them no matter how elderly. That’s because, God will never leave nor forsake us…however old we may become. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Jesus was encouraging His disciples for the rough road ahead, knowing that they would be persecuted by both Jew & Gentile. He repeated these words in both Mark 13:11 and Matthew 10:19-20 when He said, “But when they arrest you, don’t worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you’ll be given what to say, for it’ll not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” In other words, the Holy Spirit would provide their defense. So as we look at Church persecution increasing around the world and fellow Christians tormented & harassed for the sake of the Gospel, we can’t help but think of Luke 21:12-15 that speaks of this being a sign of the End of the Age. But we all can be confident of this…that no matter where we may find ourselves, at that specific time, the Holy Spirit will instruct us in what to say…for we have been given the unique opportunity to bear witness to and boldly proclaim the Gospel Message.

Charles Hodge once wrote, “Prayer is the converse of the soul with God.” Within our prayers we express adoration, bare our souls, pour out thanksgiving, and offer up petitions to a God that is not only willing to listen, but move powerfully in our favor. Prayer is the way that the life of God within us is nourished & cared for. Now we may only look upon prayer as simply a means of getting things for ourselves…but the Biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. The old saying goes, “Prayer Changes Things”…which is kind of right. Prayer changes me & the way I look at things…giving me God’s perspective, in order that I can change things from the inside out.

These words of John the Baptist’s were spoken as his Ministry was winding down & the Ministry of Jesus was amping up…but they’re also very important words for us today. Charles Spurgeon once penned, “The more self sinks: like the two scales of a balance, one must go down that the other may go up: self must sink in repentance that Christ may rise in faith.” This has a lot to do with our old self vs our new self. Or as II Corinthians 5:17 says, ” If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.” As more and more of my old self dies, I am being filled with Jesus and His attributes. And as humility, repentance, and godlikeness grow within me…I’m becoming more like Jesus, and less like my old self…and in the process, glorifying & raising Him up high.

Jerusalem had been destroyed & left desolate by the Babylonian’s. Nehemiah had approached King Artaxerxes, requesting to rebuild the city…and the King granted him all he asked for, “for the good hand of my God was upon me.” So after surveying the damage, Nehemiah called his fellow exiles together and encouraged them in the Lord’s ability to make it happen. And the people agreed, and so if you read the entire third Chapter of Nehemiah you’ll find an official report naming all of God’s people coming together for the greater good. We see clergy, laity, craftsmen, tradesmen, and common people (including women 3:12) working together. Town by town, family by family, each contributing to the completion of the wall, section by section. Starting at the Sheep Gate, going full circle around Jerusalem, and ending at the other side of the Sheep Gate, God used His people, working in co-operation & unity to accomplish His Plan & Purpose.