Wednesday, March 8, 2017

WORD OF LIFE, PART 7: NOT ANGER, BUT TRUST

It is the opposite of the nature of human nature to spend much of our waking hours just marveling at the goodness of God. Some come close, as we mature in our walk with Christ, most compartmentalize their entire Faith system.  Putting one’s faith on a shelf, because one is afraid of being classified as a “Jesus Freak” or a “bible thumper” is more dangerous to the person who does it, than the majority who mock us. 

We see what happens with a florist who stands up for biblical marriage. We see what happens to the best neuro-surgeon ever in the world, when he talks about his salvation in Christ, in the public arena. We see what happens when a football coach takes a knee and prays with this team during practice, even when none of the team objects….and on and on. 

There is a huge problem in the academic and intellectual, as well as media elite towards the ordinary folk who believe in God and trust in Christ as Lord and master.  The only time of each year, we seem to be not under ridicule, from them,  is around Christmas and Easter.  Even then, they run TV specials on “did Jesus really die on the Cross” or “Jesus never claimed to be God” (He did) or the misnamed Jesus Seminar would go off on another of their gnostic exploits into Neverland. Psalm 119:51 below confirms this thinking has been going on for over 3000 years now. As King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes "there is nothing new under the sun”.
Psalm 119:49-56
Zayin.
49  Remember the word to Your servant, in which You have made me hope.
50  This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.
51  The arrogant utterly deride me, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.
52  I have remembered Your ordinances from of old, O Lord, and comfort myself.
53  Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.
54  Your statutes are my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
55  O Lord, I remember Your name in the night, and keep Your law.
56  This has become mine, that I observe Your precepts.
The Godly are to be righteously upset about this as Psalm 119:53, in today’s section reminds us. While there is nothing wrong with a Christian who has righteous anger at spiritual wickedness abounding across the world in increasing intensity, we are not supposed to first – land there and if/when we are there, we are secondly, not to STAY there.  It was imperative to address anger from the Christian point of view first here, due to current events.  We are to be rightly upset about the perversion and brainwashing aimed at our children, whether it is from Disney, Hollywood or even the Cartoon Network. We are to be morally outraged that our brothers and sisters in Christ are being brutalized in the Middle East, Europe and Asia by practitioners of another religion, while the world and the powerful remain silent. 

However, we must remember our foundation as people of “The Book” as the pagans call us.  We are to call out to God, in times like these, when we are pressed on, squeezed and poured out and His Word will bring comfort and hope to our hearts (verses 49 and 50).  This is huge as we are asking our Heavenly Father to remember His promises to us to never leave, forsake, abandon or turn His back on us. He never has. The teacher is always silent during our mid-terms and finals.  God does something really powerful when we remind Him of His promises – He responds through the Holy Spirit. 

Here is where true conversion is REALLY critical. Unless a person possesses occupancy by the embedded Holy Spirit of God, he/she is NOT a real Christian and not saved, born-again or whatever one wishes to call it. This is crucial and not harsh. This is absolute truth! God communicates His thoughts, directions and answers to our prayers, via His Holy Spirit , which is our absolute guarantee that we belong completely to Him! Therefore, it is from this position, and with confidence, we can respond, in praise “Your decrees have been the theme of my songs, wherever I have lived” (Psalm 119 verse 54, NLT).

At the end of the day, when it all comes down to it, the Lord Jesus – Yahweh of the Bible – is all we have. He is all we want. He is our portion in the Land of the Living, and if we are wise, we will remain resolved to spend of the rest of every part of our lives, following Him (Verses 55 and 56). 

Every waking moment should be consumed by the manifest presence of God in our lives. Every waking minute should make us aware of Whose we are, why we are here and what powers us to take the next step.  Every wonderful mission should drive us into the Arms of our Loving Heavenly Father, Who though He would allow us to be tested by fire, as in the purifying of gold, will always stand by the Promises He made to us. 

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