Serving Biblical refreshment and strength for your soul, in Jesus' name. "As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." – Proverbs 27:17 (NKJV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.
“The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching!” This was the chant heard ‘round the world via televised coverage of the 1968 Democratic Party Convention. People watched on their TVs as Chicago police waded into a crowd of Viet Nam protesters with clubs swinging and tear gas spraying.
“Never let them see you sweat.” Another phrased learned via television: this one the creation of an advertising agency selling deodorant, the point being you can be confident in the condition of your armpits no matter how nervous you may be.
I’m not making any sociopolitical statements here – about protesters, politics, police or pit sweat. I’m just putting two cultural sayings together, in juxtaposition to Paul’s admonition from Philippians, to make a point about our witness as followers of Jesus Christ.
The whole world is watching. People know Who we stand for. We need to stay aware always of what we say and how we conduct ourselves. This isn’t about faking it until we make it (another cultural phrase). It is important that we grow in Christ and exhibit that walk to give others hope. Let the world see us rejoice in the Lord despite the hardships and challenges we face.
Never let them see us sweat. The reality of our situation is that God is sovereign over everything. Everything. And in Jesus we have confidence. In His very Being we find the boldness we need to face the world and all it brings.
Remember… the whole world is watching. Never let them see you sweat! Be truly confident in the Lord. He is our Sovereign Holy Father. Stay connected to Him always!!
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)
These are the keys to connectedness to God. Always rejoice in the Lord. Always be in an attitude of prayer. Always be thankful to Him in all circumstances.
It is God’s will that we stay our focus on Him.
Not our circumstances – “good” or “bad”.
Not our station in life.
Not our pay grade or position.
Not our health.
Not our standing with other people.
Recognize God’s sovereignty over all creation. Realize you are part of His creation, thus under His sovereignty. Understand this is GREAT news because God is Love, and He loves and cares for you.
It is God’s will that we stay connected with Him ALWAYS, at ALL TIMES. He is sovereign over every pain, every doubt, every fear, every anxiety…
He takes what the enemy intended for evil and turns it to our good.
Remember that always. The Truth of your life, your situation, is found in Jesus.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. – Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV)
What if we lived our lives confident in God and all He is? What if we truly recognized God’s Truth as absolute reality (as opposed to our views and thoughts and wisdom)? What if we fully surrendered all to the Lord – our families, our jobs, our time, our treasure, our relationships, our past, our present our future…?
What if our hearts and minds – our whole lives – were more in tune with Jesus and God’s ways instead of pursuing all the stuff life on earth tempts us with?
What if we just give up boldly? Just surrender all and let the Lord reign over our lives, our thoughts, our careers, our time etc,
If we’re looking for peace in our lives, a closer walk with God, more clarity about God’s will and purpose, we have to surrender everything to Jesus. When we surrender to God, we recognize His sovereignty over all and stop fighting against Him for what we think we want. Instead of chasing after the “good” things of this world, we find peace, joy and rest in the Lord, knowing He is in control and we are not.
Being God is out of our pay grade, Only He is the Creator and Sustainer of all. He is not bound by space or time. He is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent – in other words, sovereign over all. No thing and no one can outmatch the Lord our God in any way, shape or form.
Consider God’s reply to Job when all had been taken from him and his friends were there to impart their idea of “wisdom” to Job:
38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, 9 when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, 11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, 13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? 14 It is changed like clay under the seal, and its features stand out like a garment. 15 From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken.
16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? 18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.
19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, 20 that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? 21 You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, 23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? 24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
25 “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunderbolt, 26 to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man, 27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass?
28 “Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29 From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? 30 The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 “Can you bind the chains of)the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? 32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? 33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? 35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’? 36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind? 37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, 38 when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or)satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket? 41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food? – Psalm 38 (ESV)
Let’s face it: God would have had every right to destroy humanity at the fall. When Adam and Eve chose disobedience over God – a lie from the serpent over the Truth of the Lord – God could have just escorted them out of the garden and smote them right outside the gates.
But He didn’t. He created for them – for us – a path to restoration and salvation.
Did God cause them to sin? Absolutely not! The choice was there’s.
Did God know they would sin? Absolutely! And He created them – us – anyway.
Why?
Love, that’s why. God loved humanity then. And He loves us now.
Despite our rejection of Him through sin, He loves us beyond measure.
Even when we are in rebellion, He still abandons the 99 the bring us back to His fold.
Even when we drop the ball, His mercy and grace are available to us.
Jesus knows. Jesus understands. Jesus cares.
Remember, Jesus – Who gave His life willingly for our salvation (and what He endured for us is not sufficiently expressed in these words) – was God Incarnate. He walked with us. He was greatly tempted by the enemy with all the things that draw us to the world (wealth, power etc.). He knew hunger. He knew oppression. He knew how it felt to be alone and abandoned. He knew all the things that cause us fear.
Jesus knows what you’re facing. He knows every pain, every need, every circumstance, every distraction, every problem, every fear… He knows because He faced what we face while He walked on this earth.
We can go to God boldly, with confidence in all He is, and seek His help, confident that He hears us and loves us. He may not answer our prayers as we want or expect. He may not relieve the pain immediately. But He will equip us to follow Him, to surrender to Him, to see all through the eyes of faith instead of our flawed and limited reasoning.
He will show us the Truth. He will make a way for us.
God is sovereign over all. The outcome of life is in His hands.
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. – Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
Don’t breeze past that statement. Think about it. It isn’t just that God loves you. Love is part of His being.
God is sovereign. He created all and sustains all. Everything is part of an unimaginably immense tapestry, intricately interwoven.
God is our Father. We are adopted into His family, He is our protector, our guide, our Sovereign Father Who is Love.
Yes, the world is wicked. Yes we all face difficulties and pain and hardship and confusion and sickness and weakness and all sorts of suffering.
Jesus warned we would have troubles. He also promised He would never abandon us.
Look at your circumstances. Do you view them with fear or dread or anxiety? Or do you see them as opportunities for God to work in and through you to help others as well as yourself?
All that the enemy means for evil, God works out for good. Our cognitive abilities aren’t sharp enough to perceive everything the Lord is doing. Instead of trying to figure out all the whys and hows, we should just surrender to God and trust Him to work it all out.
I don’t know what your facing. But God, our Heavenly Sovereign, Loving Father, knows.
God loves us. And we need to surrender all to Him – all our troubles, all our pain, all our pain, all our struggles, all our needs.
Trust – actively choose to put your faith – in God. You do not know what lies ahead. But God does.
Our troubles may not lift quickly. But God can use our circumstances to strengthen our faith and draw us nearer to Him.
Pray to The One Who loves us – loves you – so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for us – for you. Seek Him first. Stay in His Word. Trust in the LORD. Who is greater than any circumstance, Who is always with us.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. – Romans 8:26-33 (ESV)
There is therefore now condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not by the flesh, but by the Spirit. – Romans 8:1
I’ve been feeling convicted lately.
Convicted about certain things I say.
Convicted about certain attitudes that pop up now and then.
Convicted about the need to ALWAYS be aware of God’s sovereignty over EVERYTHING which is why I don’t need to understand everything, just trust God through Jesus.
Convicted about not drinking enough Coke Zero.
Ok… not the diet soda but certainly the overuse of sarcasm.
I am convicted by the Lord about these things and others.
Convicted, yes. But condemned? No way!
Those who follow Jesus, seeking Him first, are no longer under the curse of condemnation but inspired by God to change what He’s leading me to change.
Condemnation is not from God. He won’t tell you are a loser, or hopeless, or beyond help. Remember God is love.
We always have hope in Christ. He ALWAYS loves us with a love we cannot be separated from, a love eternal, a love none of us can fully comprehend but can fully trust in.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
What keeps you from a closer relationship with Jesus?
Maybe it’s fear. Anxiety pulls our attention inward as we worry about our circumstances and focus on our troubles.
Maybe it’s unforgiveness. It’s easy to sit and stew over the injustices and slights we face, and to resent those who we feel have wronged us.
Maybe it’s life’s distractions. We get overly involved in our jobs, our overfilled schedules, politics, social media, etc etc and so on.
Maybe it’s a matter of just not taking the time to draw near to God. He promises to draw near to us when we do. He tells us to seek His kingdom first above all, trusting Him with the cares of this life.
Whatever it is you put above God – whether it be money or worry or position or career or pleasures – take the time to reshuffle your priorities to practice placing the Lord above all. You’ll find you have no greater treasure, no possession more precious, nothing more wonderful, than your Father God through His Son Jesus. The love and grace and mercy and forgiveness He provides us brings us joy and peace and strength unspeakable.
Today I want to encourage all of us to lay aside the things in life that distract us from Jesus and put our full focus on Him, running the race of the life He created for us. You will find the blessings of knowing and following God are far greater than any earthly reward.
The Bouville Diarist and Sharpening Service 