1 Peter 1:13
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Persecutions, trials and temptations are the lot of the Christian. There are hardships without, and with the lack of outward trials there comes the familiar inward trials and irritations; distraction and doubt. These can make us feel that we may never get home to our Father in heaven. Things can look so dark when the heart is cold and all one can see for the moment is the world and its’ darkness. But God encourages us through His word to look up to heaven and to wait for our sure promise, our Jesus.
Our minds may be distracted and our prayers feel weak but our inheritance is sure. God is not dragging us through the darkness of the world into the light of heaven. We are not blinded to Jesus in the everyday of today. We walk in the light. We are the light of the world. We have sight, however dim it may seem at times. We see dimly – but by God’s grace we do see. See what? We are in the light and we see the light, Jesus. We see Him in each other and in ourselves and in God’s word and He meets us in our prayer rooms. We are not consigned to gloom and clouds until Jesus returns. We do not wander aimlessly, waiting to see what we know little of. The more we seek to “see” Jesus now, the more we anticipate the fullness of Him.
Waiting for Jesus is not a resignation of what we cannot have now but an affirmation of all we hope for because we do see Him today. Those who do not eagerly await His coming have forgotten what it is to be near Him and so their expectations have grown weak. The directive to set our hope fully on what we will have may seem to negate the importance of today. And it does in the sense of what we have in this world. But it does not mar the beauty of Christ seen by His people today. We are to seek and search out God’s word for revelations of Jesus so that by cherishing Him more in the present we will be able to look forward to the future. We do not crave what we do not regularly partake of. A craving must be fed to be kept alive. So our craving for the fullness of Christ must be fed by partaking of Him continually.
We are not to resign to a world of darkness as if we do not know our destination. But we rest in that we walk in increasing light. We walk – and Jesus is on His way to meet us. The light increases as time goes on; even so the darkness of the world increases. To set our hope on the future grace to be given us at the revelation of Jesus Christ is to walk with our chins up. We walk looking to where he will come from. We live with our eyes on Him, regardless of how dark it may seem in the given day. We are not to walk with our heads down; watching our own feet. We will only bump into things if we do and they will seem bigger than life itself. No, we must have our heads up – not in pride, but in watchfulness. A runner never runs looking at the ground but he looks to his goal. That is what we are also called to. We need not worry about the pathway, God has made the way for us with His Son.
Chin – up brother, look up sister; God is with you and you are in light if you are in Jesus Christ. Look to the horizon from whence our Savior comes to save us forever. Walk boldly in the light of the one who saves you and who has secured your future for eternity. Look up, for Jesus. His coming is sure.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Birthright
Genesis 25:30
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Esau had so little regard for the promises given to Abraham that he thought them unimportant compared to mere food. Certainly he was aware of the promises that were to be his birthright. He either thought they were not true or perhaps he considered them too far in the future to be of importance in his present hunger. Possibly he just preferred fullness of belly over the fullness of God’s promise. Whatever may have been in his mind, he proved that he despised what would have been rightfully his and that he considered meeting the temporary needs of his body as more satisfying than the promise of God.
In Hebrews the writer says that Esau is unholy because of his giving up his birthright. He warns us to not be unholy like Esau. What is the birthright of the Christian? It is Jesus Christ himself. We who are reborn in the Spirit of God are promised eternal life in Jesus. Jesus, as the firstborn among many brothers (Rom 8:29), receives us as his birthright. All that the Father has he gives to the Son. We who are born a new creation each have Jesus as our birthright. In bringing us into relationship with the Father; Jesus gives us our portion in himself. Jesus does not despise his portion. He loves and cares for those given Him by the Father. He urges us forward to the completion of all that is promised.
Jesus is our portion and we are His. He is our inheritance. We are his inheritance. He belongs to us; we belong to Him. He has given us His very life; we are to lay ours down at His feet. God is gracious to give us a part of His promise even now, on earth. Each believer has fellowship with the Son to help him to endure in the pursuit to the end promise; holiness and eternal position of an adopted son of the Father. Since the Father recognizes this position as a reality today, because of the surety of the Son, He treats us as sons now.
If we lay down the promises of God for earthly, temporary needs and desires; we despise our birthright. If we despise our birthright we show we despise Jesus. That sounds a little harsh, you say. Maybe we simply are not seeing them as true today but we will come back to them later. Hebrews 12 indicates that this is not going to happen. It says Esau afterward desired to inherit the blessing; he sought it with tears but was rejected. He found no chance to repent (Heb 12:17).
Every promise of God directs us to His Son. It is one thing to be ignorant of promised blessing; we are all growing and learning like the children we are. But Hebrews gives clear warning to not set aside what one has already received. What have we received? The Son! Every child of God receives Jesus, the Son and is called to rest in Him. There are numerous promises in the Son. We must be sure we remain in and rest in the Son.
For those in Christ; ours is the life of the Son of God. God has given us the very blood, body and resurrected life of Jesus. He has no more to give. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to remind us and teach us and lead us always to Himself. The gift of faith has been given to believe all that has been promised in Jesus. All has been given. There is not anything new for us to get! There is not a special formula of tailored blessings for your particular circumstances that you have not already been given. How quickly we get on the phone and the computer and to conferences and counselors to hear someone tell us something we can really, practically put to use. When we hear that we need to turn to Jesus, that all we need is in Him; we are exasperated. “I know that”. All the while looking outside of His word and counsel for our answers. We want someone to tell us exactly what we need for that time or trouble. Someone can; Jesus. Only the Holy Spirit can make known to you in the exact way you need to hear it; what is the way for you this very day and for all the days to come.
Don’t be deceived by the temptations that come with temporary desires. Hold to your future in Jesus and rest in Him. He is still to be trusted and He is still the one who saves. The answer for the day you were saved is the same answer today. As God’s adopted child; you have the life of the Son. That is not only sufficient as a meal of green beans would keep you alive but not really satisfy; He is more than enough to sustain and keep and satisfy. He is the whole enchilada so to speak. To say there is no more to be given is not to imply that we have not received enough – we have received far more than we know. God has given all in the Son – let us not look elsewhere and despise our birthright, like unholy Esau.
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Esau had so little regard for the promises given to Abraham that he thought them unimportant compared to mere food. Certainly he was aware of the promises that were to be his birthright. He either thought they were not true or perhaps he considered them too far in the future to be of importance in his present hunger. Possibly he just preferred fullness of belly over the fullness of God’s promise. Whatever may have been in his mind, he proved that he despised what would have been rightfully his and that he considered meeting the temporary needs of his body as more satisfying than the promise of God.
In Hebrews the writer says that Esau is unholy because of his giving up his birthright. He warns us to not be unholy like Esau. What is the birthright of the Christian? It is Jesus Christ himself. We who are reborn in the Spirit of God are promised eternal life in Jesus. Jesus, as the firstborn among many brothers (Rom 8:29), receives us as his birthright. All that the Father has he gives to the Son. We who are born a new creation each have Jesus as our birthright. In bringing us into relationship with the Father; Jesus gives us our portion in himself. Jesus does not despise his portion. He loves and cares for those given Him by the Father. He urges us forward to the completion of all that is promised.
Jesus is our portion and we are His. He is our inheritance. We are his inheritance. He belongs to us; we belong to Him. He has given us His very life; we are to lay ours down at His feet. God is gracious to give us a part of His promise even now, on earth. Each believer has fellowship with the Son to help him to endure in the pursuit to the end promise; holiness and eternal position of an adopted son of the Father. Since the Father recognizes this position as a reality today, because of the surety of the Son, He treats us as sons now.
If we lay down the promises of God for earthly, temporary needs and desires; we despise our birthright. If we despise our birthright we show we despise Jesus. That sounds a little harsh, you say. Maybe we simply are not seeing them as true today but we will come back to them later. Hebrews 12 indicates that this is not going to happen. It says Esau afterward desired to inherit the blessing; he sought it with tears but was rejected. He found no chance to repent (Heb 12:17).
Every promise of God directs us to His Son. It is one thing to be ignorant of promised blessing; we are all growing and learning like the children we are. But Hebrews gives clear warning to not set aside what one has already received. What have we received? The Son! Every child of God receives Jesus, the Son and is called to rest in Him. There are numerous promises in the Son. We must be sure we remain in and rest in the Son.
For those in Christ; ours is the life of the Son of God. God has given us the very blood, body and resurrected life of Jesus. He has no more to give. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to remind us and teach us and lead us always to Himself. The gift of faith has been given to believe all that has been promised in Jesus. All has been given. There is not anything new for us to get! There is not a special formula of tailored blessings for your particular circumstances that you have not already been given. How quickly we get on the phone and the computer and to conferences and counselors to hear someone tell us something we can really, practically put to use. When we hear that we need to turn to Jesus, that all we need is in Him; we are exasperated. “I know that”. All the while looking outside of His word and counsel for our answers. We want someone to tell us exactly what we need for that time or trouble. Someone can; Jesus. Only the Holy Spirit can make known to you in the exact way you need to hear it; what is the way for you this very day and for all the days to come.
Don’t be deceived by the temptations that come with temporary desires. Hold to your future in Jesus and rest in Him. He is still to be trusted and He is still the one who saves. The answer for the day you were saved is the same answer today. As God’s adopted child; you have the life of the Son. That is not only sufficient as a meal of green beans would keep you alive but not really satisfy; He is more than enough to sustain and keep and satisfy. He is the whole enchilada so to speak. To say there is no more to be given is not to imply that we have not received enough – we have received far more than we know. God has given all in the Son – let us not look elsewhere and despise our birthright, like unholy Esau.
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