Not long ago I had a man walk into my office. He clearly had sin problems. He ardently proclaimed that he believed in Jesus as his Lord and Savior, but could not gain victory over sin. Demons seemed to be hovering all around him. He was ensnared in the power of alcohol and sexual lusts. He had a religious spirit that convinced him that he knew what the Scripture taught and that he was doing it, but he just could not get free.
Understanding the typology of the conquest of the land is crucial to understanding its relationship to our own walk with the Lord in relation to gaining victory over sin in our lives and seeing His glory lived out in us. It is the glory of God to break the power and bondage of sin in our lives. As Joshua led the armies of Israel to break the backs of the Canaanite kings in the promised land from South to North, so also our Joshua, Jesus, broke the back of the power and bondage of sin in our lives on the cross and in His resurrection. Sin has lost its grip on me. However, after the central powers of the kings in the land of Canaan were broken, it was still up to each tribe to claim their area and mop up the resistance by driving the former inhabitants out of the land. In the same way, Jesus leaves it up to us to recognize the victory blow which He has given to the enemy, and resting in that victory, we are to drive out those entities in our lives which might give rise to sin regaining its power over us. It is a masterful tandem work of the Sovereignty of God and the free will of man.
Simply put the man who walked into my office did not walk into my office looking for deliverance but enablement. He was not willing to do what it took receive the victory blow which Jesus has already delivered, nor was he willing to do what it took to drive out those entities which still held sway over Him. He was like the Israelites who would not drive out the inhabitants even when they became strong. They would rather keep them in the land and make a profit off of them by receiving tribute! How much am I like that? What is going on in my life right now over which I cannot gain victory? His glory is seen more brightly when I embrace His victory blow, and resting in His victory, I die to the flesh which drives out that which would enslave me. There is only one way of dealing with my own flesh—kill it! Then His glory is seen! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PSALM 17
Laura and I have a friend who has lived in poverty most of her life. She told Laura the other day that she is convinced that the Lord does not love her. She equates God’s love with adequate food and being able to pay the bills. She has given up on God. Hmmm. . .
What if all in the space of one year you lost your job, your house, your spouse? That happened to my cousin. He is currently in a mental institution. Furthermore, what if you were listed as public enemy #1 so that all the law enforcement officials were looking for you? What if you were reduced to hunting and gathering (poaching) as your only means of eating? Would you feel that the loving kindness of God was upon you? What if your only companions were those disgruntled with government, the political and economic rejects of the country? What if many others spoke ill of you saying that you deserve the harsh circumstances that the Lord has placed you in? Would you feel that God was just? Would you need some kind of vindication? All of these things had happened to David. It is the context of this Psalm. David had lost his job as one of Saul’s top military leaders. He had lost Michal, his wife, Saul’s daughter. He was forced to flee for his life from his house. Saul had his army searching for him to kill him. The only companions David had were the unwanted of the land. His only means of eating was off of the land. He had no flocks, herds, lands or crops. All of this was simply because God had chosen David to be the next king. He lived in this fashion for probably a decade.
Does this sound like loving kindness of God to you? How would you handle this adversity? David asks this, “Show me Your marvelous lovingkindess by Your right hand. . . Keep me as the apple of Your eye. . . As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.” Can we be satisfied with just that when everything is going wrong? David was. He had tasted and seen the glory of the Lord. For that reason he could be satisfied when He awoke in the likeness of the Lord. That loving kindness really cannot be described. It can only be experienced. It is better than any physical comfort. I am convinced that He lets those who wait upon Him experience it. We just cannot give up on waiting. He is worth the wait and the poverty. He is too rich! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
JEREMIAH 43
You can run, but you can’t hide! It is an old saying, but true. Johanan and others did not like the Word from the Lord, which they received in Jerusalem from Jeremiah. So they ran and forced Jeremiah to come with them. They ran to Egypt. Egypt was arguably one of the world’s greatest powers at the time. Surely Nebuchadnezzar could not touch them there. You can run, but you cannot hide! The Lord sent word through Jeremiah that Nebuchadnezzar was coming! Right from the very spot where Jeremiah gave the word, Nebuchadnezzar would set up camp! Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary says:
Josephus tells us that in his twenty-third year, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt, slew the Pharaoh, set up another, and carried the Jewish remnant to Babylon (Antiq. x, ix. 7). A fragmentary inscription, now in the British Museum, records that Nebuchadnezzar actually invaded Egypt in 568 B.C. when Amasis (570–526 B.C.) was Pharaoh. Amasis seems to have heeded the warning and thereafter remained on good terms with the Babylonians.
It is the glory of the Lord that we can run, but we cannot hide! So, why do we run? It is nothing but pride that keeps us running. Lord, enable me to lay down my pride and embrace Your Word. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
ACTS 21:1-17
The will of the Lord is sometimes ambiguous to us, not to Him, but to us. Paul already testified in 20:23 that the Holy Spirit had told him that chains and tribulation awaited Him. In Tyre the disciples told him through the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem. In Caesarea Agabus the prophet told Paul that the Holy Spirit said that He would be bound in Jerusalem. Did the Lord Jesus Christ want him to go to Jerusalem? It seems ambiguous to me. Was what the Holy Spirit telling Paul just a warning of what would happen and wanted to happen or was it a warning that Paul shouldn’t go to Jerusalem or this would happen to him? Jesus had given the job of going to the Gentiles to Paul. Paul had told the Romans that he desired to go to Spain with the gospel. Why is he headed to Jerusalem? His job isn’t to reach Jews of Jerusalem. So where’s the glory in all this?
If this was what the Lord wanted Paul to do, then His glory is seen in Paul’s clear willingness to endure chains for the glory of the Lord. If this is not what the Lord wanted Paul to do, then His glory is seen in that the Lord took Paul’s obstinacies and still used them for His glory. Some church historians think that Paul made it to Spain after his first imprisonment in Rome. So should I be worried about ambiguity in the will of the Lord? Well, if I miss the will of the Lord, He will make it work out anyway. It may mean a lot of hardship for me. But He will work it out. He is glorified. If I properly discern the will of the Lord, I glorify Him and I may miss some self-imposed hardships. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
No comments:
Post a Comment