Keep On Keeping On

Focus verses: II Timothy 2:10-13

Enduring is an unpopular occupation, but we have been given the grace through Christ to do just that. Enduring hardship serves to strengthen our resolve and make us less soft or brittle. It works much like annealing steel or glass.

My daughter does glass lamp work. She heats a rod or small length of glass til it is molten in the flame. She works with it and shapes it into the form desired. Then she puts it into an annealing oven so that it does not cool quickly, but slowly, over a period of many hours. This process makes the glass much stronger and less breakable.

It seems that God does that with some of our lives. We endure hardship of many kinds until we have been shaped into what God wants us to be. And even then, He does not turn off the heat. We sit in the annealing oven for an extended period so that we come out more serviceable than ever.

We can endure all this by focusing on Jesus Christ.

¹¹Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
¹²if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
¹³if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.

He is the source of our life and hope. He is the reason for our faithfulness. He is our all in all. So we can keep on keeping on.

Father, God,

When life gets very daily and the going gets tough, reassure us that all things work together for good to those who are called to Your purpose. Help us to keep the faith, doing all that You have commanded, so that we may remain faithful, just as Jesus is faithful.

In Jesus' most precious name.

Amen.

That Which Is Needful

Focus verses: Acts 15:1-29

Some of the first century Messianic Jews had followed the Mosaic law all their lives. They could not conceive of anyone being chosen by God who did not follow those laws. Therefore they began to insist that the gentile believers be circumcised and follow all the dietary laws of Moses.

But Paul had seen gentiles converted by the Holy Spirit's falling upon them. The conversion of the heart came despite the outward appearances of the person. He recognized that people unaccustomed to the Jewish regulations would be hindered by these laws. What was important was the heart of the person being brought to Christ.

What is needed for the believer is a faithful heart, a heart hungry for the Good News.

Notice that the letter to the gentiles from this first church conference deals with the appetites. It asks them to follow certain dietary laws: abstaining from food offered to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.

These regulations are not only spiritually healthy, they have consequences for physical health as well.

When food has been offered to an idol, you have no idea what it has been exposed to, what salmonella or trichinosis or other disease it may be carrying. Often food contamination has to do with the dripping juices from raw meat (ie. blood). Blood is the ideal incubator for bacteria, especially at room temperatures. When an animal is strangled, the blood suffuses throughout the tissue - still an ideal incubator for bacteria. While there may be over-riding moral grounds for following the proscriptions, there are valid physical health reasons as well.

How interesting that sexual immorality is lumped together with these food proscriptions. I can't help wondering if the health reasons are not a large part of this proscription as well.

The thing most needed is a heart for God. When one desires only to please God, these "regulations" will not be onerous. They are simply a way of conveying one's gratitude to the Lord for all He has done for us.

Father, God,

Create in us grateful hearts, that we may follow Your edicts willingly, not grudgingly. Help us to recognize that what we gain is far more and better than what we eschew.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen

Good News

Focus verses: Isaiah 52:7-10

In the old movie "Yours, Mine and Ours," there is a scene of Christmas morning. Six-year-old Phillip comes down the stairs to see that Santa Claus has been there. He turns around and rushes back up the stairs to tell everyone "Santa Claus been here!" And fifteen more sets of feet come pounding down the stairs.

Excitement, chaos, glee, laughter, joy, song all have a part in this scene. I mean this was very good news to all those children.

That same kind of joy and abandon floods our hearts when we hear our good news. Our God reigns. He is sovereign. It will be made obvious to the whole earth.

From Handel's "Messiah" the chorus booms "And all flesh shall see it together."

The good news is that God is Sovereign and all of earth and heaven and hell will someday acknowledge His sovereignty. For every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

But there is a special joy for those who confess not that He is Lord, but that He is my Lord. Our lives are purposeful and useful and eternal only when He is not the Lord of something distant or nebulous, but He is the Lord of our lives.

The bumper sticker that says "God is my copilot" is all wrong. God is the pilot; we just fasten our seat belts and come along for the ride. Oh, sometimes we are the flight attendants serving the other passengers, but make no mistake, God is piloting this craft.

That's the best news of all. Not only is He sovereign, he is immediately involved in our daily lives.

Father, God,

Thank You for caring about each and every one of us to the point that you know the number of hairs on each of our heads. Help us to be daily, hourly, moment-by-moment conscious of Your presence in our lives.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.