2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
In the midst of a serious heat wave, wildfires are spreading across Europe causing thousands to evacuate. This reminded me of a story I once read.
When a power plant in a tiny village in Alaska caught fire one evening, a local fire truck stood, unused, in perfect working condition as the plant burnt to the ground. Damage to the plant was great. And why did this state of the art firetruck go unused? So sad… simply nobody in the town knew how to operate it.
This is what I realized. Amidst the everyday fires we face in our lives, God has given us precious, perfectly good working, state of the art promises. Unfortunately, it seems that either we are ignorant of them or fail to know how to operate them!
D.L. Moody says that many of the promises God has given to His people, to us, “seem to be pretty pictures of an ideal peace and rest, but are not appropriated as practical helps in daily life. And not one of these promises is more neglected that the assurance of salvation. An open Bible places them within reach of all, and we may appropriate the blessing which such a knowledge brings.”
Are you burning to put God’s promises to work in your life today?? I know I am! Let’s get into God’s Word, get to know the depth of His commitment to us, and put His wonderful promises to action! The fires are raging and there’s so much work to be done!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Genesis 24 recounts the marriage of Issac and Rebekah. As the offering of Isaac by his father Abraham was a clear picture or type of our Heavenly Father’s offering of His Son Yeshua, we may also view this marriage as a picture or type of Yeshua’s marriage to his Bride.
One of my heroes of the faith, Watchman Nee, once said something profound about entering the rest of God. He said, “Carnal Christians crave works; yet amid many labors, they are unable to maintain calm in their spirit. They cannot fulfill God’s orders quietly as can the spiritual believers… their hearts are governed by outward matters. Being “distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:40) is the characteristic of the work of any soulish believer. They have not yet entered the rest of God.”
I just read an interesting article discussing how the current crisis is spawning worry and anxiety syndrome amongst many people. An emotional environment is sweeping the land. The effects may be subtle, but they’re serious. Do we want to contribute to this?
In Israel, we often see goats and sheep roaming the countryside. Driving through rural Israel often involves suddenly stopping to allow a herd of sheep or goats to cross the road. But interestingly, I have never seen “sheep kill” on the side of the road in all the years that I’ve lived in Israel. It’s because sheep don’t roam without a shepherd!
Set my mind on things above where my life is hidden with Christ…
…every problem, every issue, every fear, every practical matter concerning nature and flesh, to be reckoned in the light of a spiritual identity, a reality which I cannot see, a Heaven which is somewhere outside my universe. And Paul says, “Seek that!” How do I do that? How do I stretch my attention into the Heavenly realm…set my mind on things above?
The Sabbath is a weekly experiential reminder of the FREEDOM we experience from bondage to sin. In the above passage, Moses explicitly connects the celebration of Shabbat with deliverance from slavery. Isaiah 61:1 beautifully expresses Yeshua’s saving work bringing good news to the poor, binding up the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives, and opening the prison to those who are bound, a wonderful message of deliverance and freedom.
The apostle Paul’s epistle to the Thessalonians contains clear and powerful exhortations concerning the will of God for believers. These exhortations express the specific will of God in relationships with others, with ourselves, and with the Lord. Packed into these short verses are patterns of life and behavior which receive His blessing in all these relationships.