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Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. Psalms 1:1-2
Where to you seek answers to the things that are troubling you? Our lives abound with adversity that rob us of the joy of life.
We struggle with fear of failure so we procrastinate. We struggle with doubt, so we don’t take steps God has been nudging us towards. We worry even though God has proven over and over again that he will provide. We make promises to ourselves that we don’t keep such as I’m going to eat better and get some exercise…tomorrow.
During those times when you seek answers who do you call on. Advice for many is just a social media account away. The anonymity of the internet has made many ‘experts’, most of whom conflict with each other and some are just plain evil.
The result is more confusion and fewer answers. Those who have true purpose in life are often filled with joy because in spite of the conflicting messages of society, they are secure in who they are and why they are heard. Confidence in those two things (Identity and purpose) lead to joy.
True joy comes as a result of our allegiance to and meditation upon God’s Word, the prayerful advice of godly friends and reliance on the moving of the Holy Spirit.
The enemy screams at us through social media, physical disaster, global conflict and disease. Our Father speaks softly and confidently through His Word, His church (Godly individuals, not the organization) and His Holy Spirit.
For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17
When God gave Moses the law, it was to show us as humans, the standards that we would need to keep to be holy and perfect before God.
There was no wavering in the law. There was no giving and taking. The standard was set, and if we did not meet the standard, we would be separated from God in this life and the next.
We would be without hope. We would never be in relationship with him.
While the law showed us God‘s holiness and standards, Jesus shows us God‘s character.
It’s almost as if God gave us the law to say here’s what I expect, and you will never be able to match that! Then he sent Jesus to say, here’s a better way.
His purpose was never to put us down. his purpose was never to destroy us. His purpose was never to make us struggle with our own thoughts and actions.
His purpose, was always to draw us closer to him. his purpose was always to give us a fulfillment and peace that nothing else could give us.
In Jesus, he gave us what we were never worthy of so that we could be what we could never achieve.
In those days when you pray, I will listen. Jeremiah 29:12
God’s word came to Jeremiah during a very difficult time in life of the Israelites.
They were abused, they were oppressed, they were under constant threat of attack.
Someday God would deliver them completely. But until then, he gives them a promise that he gives to us as well.
When we pray, he will listen.
God doesn’t listen the way some of us do. His listening isn’t surface level. His listening isn’t subject to distractions or circumstances.
When he listens to us, we have his undivided attention. It’s as if he looks into our eyes and sees clear through to our hearts.
That doesn’t mean he’ll remove the troubles. That doesn’t mean he’ll remove those enemies and obstacles that keep us awake at night. But it does mean he listens to us.
And sometimes we just need to be heard.
For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church. 1 Corinthians 15:9
“I don’t deserve this.”
How many times do we hear that said, or maybe we’ve said that after we’ve been criticized or wrongfully accused. Maybe we’ve been judged unfairly for not meeting the expectations of others. Then there are the times when people play the comparison game, “Not bad, but sally does it better.”
Life is hard when it never seems like we can catch a break. If there was anyone who deserved to be scrutinized, the Apostle Paul was one.
He was a Pharisee, and likely had some part in the decision to murder Jesus. He gleefully watched the stoning of Stephen after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. He celebrated the persecution, imprisonment and physical beating each follower of ‘The Way’ received.
After his conversion to Jesus, Paul was called to preach this same Jesus that he’d ridiculed earlier. There were many who doubted him, right up until the day he died. Among other things, he was beaten, jailed, stoned and left for dead, and shipwrecked.
Paul could have said, ‘I don’t deserve all this! I’m the Apostle Paul after all. I was called by Jesus Himself. I’m important.” But he didn’t.
Instead Paul counted himself of being unworthy of any ministry at all because of his former life. The mistreatment he endured was nothing compared to what Jesus endured.
Jesus was completely innocent of any sin, yet rejected, abused and murdered. Elsewhere Paul says he would gladly go through abuse because of what Jesus endured for him.
None of us deserve to be mistreated on the physical plain, yet compared to God’s Holy standards, we all deserve so much more. We deserve death, but Jesus gives us life. We deserve punishment for our sins, but Jesus gives us forgiveness. We deserve poverty, Jesus provides from heavens storehouses.
I don’t deserve the abuse I get, but in reality, I deserve so much more! Thank you Jesus for sparing me from what I truly deserve.
Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. 1 Corinthians 15:8
We can’t be sure, but it’s very likely that the man we know as the Apostle Paul at least knew ABOUT Jesus while he ministered on earth.
Saul, as he was known before his conversion, was a high ranking Pharisee and would have heard about this ‘teacher from Galilee. He would have heard about the miracles. He could have heard about His teachings. He may have even been involved in planning his death!
One might ask, how could someone see so many good things and still reject Jesus? How could one see the miracles and still not believe? How could one see the life changes and still doubt?
Yet, that was Saul’s story until that fateful day on a road to Damascus. Saul was enjoying the prestige and power he had over these ‘followers of the way’ these believers in Jesus. He spewed hate, anger and judgment. He basked in the glory of his violence.
Then he saw Jesus in a new way and everything changed. There are still many who know ABOUT Jesus. They’ve heard the stories. They’ve seen the life change. Yet they have yet to ‘see’ Jesus.
There are even those of us who have walked with Jesus for years that have a tendency to grow so content with Him that we fail to live in the power of His Spirit living within us.
May we each see Jesus for who He is in all His power and majesty. May we never grow apathetic in our worship of Him. May we live in such a way that others see Jesus because of how we interact with them.
