His Perfect Strength

Struggles. Ups and downs. No sooner have we experienced a high point, and we are sinking again... Waking up and reading of Jesus love for those who were His bitterest enemies, and then going out to inevitably do the exact opposite.

Life is almost a predictable cycle of these highs and lows. For every climb, sooner or later, the descent comes. Where are the victories?

"The whole earthly life of Jesus was a manifestation of this principle. It was to bring the bread of life to His enemies that the Saviour left His home in heaven. Though calumny and persecution were heaped upon Him from the cradle to the grave, they called forth from Him only the expression of forgiving love." (MB 71) And He is our example. But I fight for my so-called rights... What I wish I didn't do, is exactly what I do.

Then I am encouraged, reminded that we shall often have to fall down and weep at the feet of Jesus. We are not to be discouraged, not cast down. He will pick us up. He hasn't brought me this far to leave me. He didn't pay the ultimate price for nothing. And as long as I feel my GREAT need of Him, there is hope. 

Our God is ever constant, unchangeable. No matter how I feel, I must live according to His promises, for we are to walk by faith, not by feeling. 

"If he will unite with Me, believe in Me, and work for Me, his weakest points of character...will become his strongest points." (Medical Ministry, p 41)

 

And so it is that at our lowest points, when we feel truly weak, we come closest to Him.

"My strength is made perfect in weakness."

 (2 Corinthians 12:9)

 

 

Indebted

As I saw the date I had just written, I thought of the disappointed little group 169 years ago... Of course at this time of day they were still waiting with eager anticipation (they loved Him with all their hearts) for the appearing of their precious Lord. But oh, the disappointment when He did not return. Their hopes were dashed. Had He forgotten, had He forsaken them? No! Indeed, He was performing a great work for them at that very moment, presenting His blood for the Day of Atonement then begun, making it possible for them to be one with Him.

And then my thoughts turn to my own life... I'm grateful for the time I've been given on this earth. Had He already come, I would never have been born. Yet some probing questions come to my mind, demanding answers. Am I truly seeking His honour? Or merely my own supposed greatness? Is Jesus truly my all, the One I live for? Is He Heaven to me? Or would I be happy to just go there without Him?

And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

 Heb 11:39- 12:4

Sadly, it's the truth. I have not "resisted unto blood". Instead I have loved sin! I am not worthy of the honour of running in this Race, of taking the baton from the faithful who have gone before. Yet why am I here on this earth at this point in time?

As Ministry of Healing puts it: "By all that has given us advantage over another,—be it education and refinement, nobility of character, Christian training, religious experience,—we are in debt to those less favoured; and, so far as lies in our power, we are to minister unto them. If we are strong, we are to stay up the hands of the weak."

I am indebted to this "great cloud of witnesses" who have run ahead. I am indebted to the world. And most of all, I am indebted to my Saviour and King.

Oh may I prove faithful!

A Life of Influence

We all know that we have an influence. It's a widely acknowledged fact, whether we pay attention to it or not, but how often do we really think about it?

The everyday things we say and do, the expressions on our faces, the tone with which we speak, ALL have an influence on the eternal destiny of countless souls.

It's a ripple effect, either for good or for evil. 

As I read about Abraham's life in the book Education, this thought really stirred me. When I think of Abraham, I see a man of faith, a man of obedience, whose influence has spanned thousands of years. Yet we also have plenty of evidence that Abraham was human, and like us, subject to temptations, failures and fears. So, I question, what is it that set him apart? Is the same possible for us today? I don't claim to have the answers, but I believe this is something God wants us to study, for after all, isn't this His will for us?

So we return to Education (p 187), where we read: "that which gave power to Abraham's teaching was the influence of his own life."   

Herein lies a key.

We are undoubtedly the generation with most information available to a single human being in all of history. We are also, to all appearance, the furthest from God's ideal. It may not seem to make much sense at first, but if you think about it, this has a great role to play in our problem. We aren't gaining a personal experience, because we are not studying for ourselves. We drift along, as if we had no influence, so easily forgetting that every single move we make counts. So, when we know we aren't really using our influence for God, why do we wonder at the results we see...?

There is only one way to make this practical, and we find it in Education p 189: " ...in order to gain this knowledge, we must live by it." (emphasis mine)

"Abraham's influence extended beyond his own household. Wherever he pitched his tent, he set up beside it the altar for sacrifice and worship. When the tent was removed, the altar remained; and many a roving Canaanite, whose knowledge of God had been gained from the life of Abraham His servant, tarried at that altar to offer sacrifice to Jehovah."  (Ed 187) What a witness! An amazing testimony of what a life "hid in God" can accomplish! And there is hope for us!  "No less effective today will be the teaching of God's word when it finds as faithful a reflection in the teacher's life."

"Let the student keep his Bible always with him. As you have opportunity, read a text and meditate on it." Use the 'empty' time you would otherwise waste on things like social networking, waiting, doing nothing, and "improve the opportunity to gain some precious thought from the treasure house of truth." (Ed 191)

The key lies here. Not in merely gathering facts, speaking intelligently on deep theological topics. Anyone can do that if they tried.

It's about a change of heart- God's word becoming a part of us, affecting how we live.

That's the transformation I want.

Beauty from Ashes

Reading the inspired account of God's dealing with Levi in the book Education, I am awed by His unfailing mercy. His amazing work, using those very sins that cause Him so much pain to draw me closer to Himself is incomprehensible to my finite mind.

Levi was one of the cruelest of Jacob's sons.

 Levi's characteristics, reflected in his descendants, incurred for them the decree from God, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." Genesis 49:7. But repentance wrought reformation; and by their faithfulness to God amidst the apostasy of the other tribes, the curse was transformed into a token of the highest honour. (Ed 148)

 As we see in Deuteronomy 10:9, "Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance." (emphasis mine) What a privilege! What more could you want? And it holds true today. Even my worst failures, (if I surrender ALL to God), can become my greatest blessings! Out of the sin and degradation, out of the ugly things of life, He brings forth a thing of beauty.

  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. Exodus 34:6,7