Let this change everything for you today
We all have moments of sudden inspiration - insight about someone, about a situation – that
changes us. We wonder why we did not see
it before, don’t we? Sometimes I awaken
in the middle of night realizing that the solution to some problem is mine,
Hallelujah! Sometimes a friend offers
their counsel and hands me the key that unlocks my understanding. I am currently reading a book about walking
with God in times of suffering. I have
paused more than once, grateful for the author’s wisdom that helps me unravel the
snarls in my thoughts!
This passage from the Word offers light for life; revelation that leads to revolution! "Since
we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in
which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so,
but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces
perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not
disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy
Spirit, whom he has given us. … "Not
only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation." (Romans 5:1-5, 11,
NIV)
The key to a joyous life is a gift that God offers: that we can be ‘justified,’ things set right between Him and us, when we accept His
gift by faith. Alienation from our
Father causes us to feel lonely, lost, without purpose or plan for life. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of
His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). "
(Ephesians 2:4-5, NKJV) That truth
transforms! How?
“We have PEACE with
God.” When the Spirit comes to live
in us, we lose the angst that causes us to fear the future, to dread death, to
wonder why we exist. We now know the
Almighty God as “Father.” He is
approachable, loved and loving. We realize that He is our “Abba” – a familiar
term meaning, Dad!
“We rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God!” That word “rejoice”
can be translated alternately as “boast.”
No, not in a prideful way, but in a confident way based on
relationship. Yes, because He has set us
right we get to bask in His reflected glory.
We can rightly do a little Name-dropping! When we have the opportunity to spend some
personal time with an accomplished individual, we like to tell people, don’t
we? About 30 years ago at a conference
convened by the Billy Graham association, I was part of a small gathering of
pastors that spent a couple of hours talking to Graham and key members of his
team. It was a thrill to be around men who had done so much for the Kingdom of
God, to hear their stories, to listen. I’m sure I told many people about that ‘glory.’ God, the King of Heaven, invites us to come
near and then to carry His radiance back into the world; not because we are
great, but because He is!
“We rejoice in our
sufferings.” When we KNOW we are
right with God and part of His family the suffering that comes into our life
gains new meaning; to the extent that we actually can find JOY in it. God, our Father, can and does use the things
that bring tears to make us into beings that bear the mark of His Person. We learn to keep on going through tough
times. We gain depth of character that makes us solid people. And, we lose the attachment to superficial
things, replacing love of stuff, reputation, and pleasure with the joyful hope
of the promise of God! Maybe that part
is a little beyond you at this moment. If so, simply ask Him to help you to see
it, to enter into rejoicing IN, not because of, suffering.
“We rejoice IN GOD,
right now.” Because we are
justified, life changes NOW, not just in some future moment when we go to
Heaven. The center out of which we live shifts from Self to Jesus. The focus of
our life changes from time to eternity as we
become eternal being who are living in a temporal world. No, we are not detached from reality; we are
attached to an unseen but very real hope that makes everything better.
Take a few moments to read those key lines again. Do so
prayerfully, letting faith build, so
that revelation will bring revolution.
Justified by Faith!
Peace with God!
Boasting in our relationship with Him, sharing His glory!
Rejoicing in the hard stuff!
Knowing that we are, NOW, made into eternal being with life
that never ends.
Here is the word from the Word. "When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my
knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty
inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and
more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep
into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to
understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how
deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so
great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the
fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now glory be to God! By his
mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than
we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in
Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen." (Ephesians
3:14-21, NLT)
_______________
I Stand Amazed (My Savior's Love)
I stand amazed in the
presence
Of Jesus, the Nazarene,
And wonder how He
could love me,
A sinner condemned
unclean?
For me it was in the
garden
He prayed, “not My
will but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs,
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of
blood for mine.
In pity angels beheld
Him
And came from the
world of light
To comfort Him in the
sorrows
He bore for my soul
that night
He took my sins and my
sorrows,
He made them His very
own.
He bore the burden to
Calvary
And suffered and died
alone.
How marvelous, how
wonderful!
And my song shall ever
be.
How marvelous, how
wonderful!
Is my Savior's love
for me.
When with the ransomed
in glory
His face I at last
shall see,
'Twill be my joy
through the ages,
To sing of His love
for me!
Charles Hutchinson Gabriel
© Words: Public Domain
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