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Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners who still have hope! I promise this very day that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles. Zechariah 9:12 (New Living Translation)
The prophet Zechariah ministered to the people of Israel during a very difficult time in the lives of the people of God. They were just returning from years in exile, a consequence of their disobedience to God. It was to rebuild their cities and their lives.
It’s important to remember that the reason for the exile was that the people intentionally and willfully chose to disobey God. They weren’t tricked or deceived. They knew better. But regardless of their knowledge they made a decision to go their own way. Now, their time of discipline was complete and it was time to move on.
The word Zechariah is given for the people is this: “Return to me. Come back to the one place you know you can always return to.” God has the same message for each of us today. You may be suffering now from the consequences of poor choices. Your life may be full or worry, shame, guilt, remorse, fear, anger or a multitude of other factors. It’s possible that the choices you have made will have consequences that will be with you the rest of your life. Even so, God is saying, “Come home. Come to me. You once were imprisoned, trapped in a life of meaninglessness and pain. Come home.”
I have a friend who was involved in a terrible snowmobile accident in which he lost both of his legs. The events leading up to the accident were not good. He never should have been on that snowmobile and riding with the people he was. For the rest of his life he’ll have a reminder of that accident.
The story has a ‘good ending’ of sorts however. As a result of the accident he has found a renewal of his faith and a trust in Jesus such as he’d never had before. He ‘came home’ to his God and Savior Jesus Christ and his life was dramatically changed.
You may be feeling imprisoned by your sins. You may feel shut up under a sense of your guilt and shame. Look to Jesus. He is the only one who can deliver you from your offenses and give you hope regardless of what you have done in the past.
Zechariah gives those of us another promise. He says “I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles!” What an amazing promise of grace. Not only are we forgiven, we can expect to enjoy all fullness of grace and plenty of spiritual and physical blessings. God doesn’t just forgive us when we come home, He blesses us!
No matter where you are in life. Come home to Jesus. Let Him remove the guilt and shame of your past. Trust Him to bless you beyond all you can imagine.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I come before you today realizing that my life is a mess. I’ve made choices I knew were wrong. I’ve accepted you as my Savior but I still struggle with habits, anger, shame and guilt. I know better but still go my own way. Please forgive me for my rebellion. Empower me to live for you today and to experience all the blessings you have for me. Amen.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Imagine how Jesus’ disciples felt as He told them that He would be leaving them soon. For three years Jesus had been their constant companion. They had learned more about God and healing and power and forgiveness…and life than they had ever known before.
While Jesus had been with them they’d been in situations where they feared for their lives, watched lives changed before their very eyes and even been personally involved in healing others of their illnesses and casting out demons. Even though they didn’t completely understand everything about Jesus, one thing they knew; when they were with Jesus, things were going to work out all right.
Now, He was telling them that He was going away and they wouldn’t see Him for awhile. Jesus had gone off into the mountains on occasion to pray but this was different. This was going to be a longer period of time and even though He said He’d come back, He didn’t say when.
Not only was He leaving, Jesus didn’t paint a very pleasant picture of life after He was gone. We have the advantage of knowing from history what happened in the lives of the disciples but to them it was all a mystery. Their life was going to be one of trouble. They would be attacked, misunderstood and killed because of Him.
In John chapter 16 Jesus leaves the disciples, and us, three promises. First of all, trouble and hardship should never surprise us. Jesus said we would have many problems. He told us that relationships would fail, our health would fail and government would fail. All of those things are based on the human, finite existence and by nature will end.
The second thing Jesus told the disciples is that even though they would no longer see Him physically, they would know His presence because the Father (God) would send His Holy Spirit to indwell us, comfort us, guide us and show us the things of God. There are times when you feel all alone. There will be times when it seems like no one understands you. But Jesus’ promise is the same today as it was the day He sat with His disciples. The struggles of our lives may cloud our sense of His presence. We may feel like no one fully understands the pain we bear, but Jesus does. He is not far from us.
Lastly, Jesus wanted His disciples to know that no matter how bad things get, those who follow Him will eventually see victory. The world will through confusion, pain, hate and anger at us. We will groan in pain and confusion and feel completely abandoned. But someday, those of us who are Christ followers will overcome the pain and adversity of this life. In the end…WE WIN! Until that time when victory is ours, each of us must learn to rely on the strength, comfort and guidance of the Holy Spirit during those darkest times of our lives.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. I want to thank you today for forgiving every one of my sins and failures. I praise you today for removing my guilt and shame even though I’m so undeserving. You told your disciples that we’d see trouble and I’m feeling that right now. I feel abandoned, scared and too weak to go on. Empower me with your Spirit to endure the attacks and trust your presence when you seem absent. In the midst of this struggle I thank you that eventually, because of you, I win! Amen.
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12
It seems like it is getting harder and harder to really take a stand for Jesus. There are so many voices in society that tell us that the Bible isn’t relevant or that there are lots of ways to get to heaven. Truth, along with right and wrong, have become subject to one’s own interpretation. What’s right for you may not be right for me.
The voices of tolerance tell us that we need to be sensitive to those who have different beliefs because ‘we are all God’s children and he reaches out to us in many ways. To preach one way is right and one way is wrong is simply spreading hate.
We shouldn’t be surprised at the attacks leveled at our faith in Jesus. These attacks have been going on since Jesus walked on earth and they will continue until He comes again to take those of us who are His follower’s home.
When Paul wrote to Timothy is was as a loving father or teacher would write to a much loved son or student. He knew his time was short. He also knew that as Timothy grew older and more experienced in ministry he would encounter more and more resistance to the message of love and forgiveness through Jesus.
He tells Timothy that he must ‘Fight the good fight of faith’. The actual wording for this admonition in the original languages is to “Agonize the good agony.” In other words, the Christian life will be full of agony! For some of us this agony is an internal struggle. We may look squeaky clean and spiritual on the outside. We do all the right things, go to church, sing the songs and say the right words. But inside we struggle with addictions, fear, worry or thoughts we know are not pleasing to God. We can hide our struggles from others by ‘doing all the right things’ even though we still lose the inner battles of our hearts.
For others of us, following Christ can be an external struggle. Maybe you smoke and want to quit but can’t. Maybe it’s an addiction to chemicals. Maybe it’s anger and rage. It could be overeating. There is a whole list of things that we struggle with that are evident because try as we might, we can’t hide them.
Paul says to fight! Don’t give up. Know that God understands your weakness. He knows your heart and that you are trying to follow Him. He is more than willing to come along side you and help you have the strength to endure the battle. He doesn’t want you to give up on yourself. He can’t help you if you give up on Him.
Don’t give up on yourself. Don’t give up on God. Jesus is THE way to truth and to life. He alone can help you with whatever fight is ahead of you.
PRAYER: Holy God, you know the battle the rages in my life right now. I struggle with some things that I’m able to hide (so far) from others. I struggle with other things that are very evident to everyone I meet. Some days I don’t like me and I doubt you. I feel the battle is too much for me. Please help me to remember that you are by my side and understand my weakness. Help me to fight the good fight with you by my side. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to live free from the things that try to hinder me. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 