“Relentless”

(Friends: I recently wrote about the following characteristic of God in an edition of The Saturday Series.  This is more along the lines of His subsequent way and working in our lives, and in all things.  Glen).

"Relentless"     

  

  

  As allowed by God, Satan and his demonic minions relentlessly foist temptation, tribulation, and turmoil upon the human race.  

   "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).

   Even more, however, our Heavenly Father relentlessly works to overcome devilish challenges by His redeeming presence and involvement in the lives of those who trust and submit to Him.

   "As it is written, For Thy sake, we are killed all the day long.  We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Romans 8:36-37).

    In Eden, Satan tempted Adam and Eve.  They responded to the devil's lie, leading to death and a curse upon all creation.  While not responsible for Adam and Eve's sin, God nevertheless took advantage of the sad circumstance to enact His "eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).  Thereby, glories of grace and mercy came stream forth from the Lord's heart that would never have otherwise revealed.  "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20).  The glories forever proceed as the Spirit of God incessantly works to reveal the Light of the Lord Jesus in darkness.  Relentless.

   Joseph's jealous brethren threw him into a hole to kill him.  He ended up enslaved, which ultimately led to his becoming the redeemer and ruler of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh.  Tribulation led to the throne as God displayed in Joseph His ongoing capacity for restoration and redemption.  As Joseph told his brethren after he saved them from starvation, and then revealed God's wondrous way in his life and theirs, "Ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good" (Genesis 50:20).  Relentless.

   Most vividly, God allowed the devil to throw every weapon in his evil arsenal against the Lord Jesus, leading to the turmoil of Calvary.  "The prince of this world cometh" declared the Lord, and Satan indeed came with savage assault (John 14:30).  Our Savior suffered untold agonies of sorrow, loss, pain, forsakenness and death as the devil unleashed his cruelties on the spirit, soul, and body of Christ.  The Prince of life died, an aberration impossible for us to understand, and forever beyond our capacity to feel.  However, the suffering and death of the cross gave way to the resurrection and victory of the empty tomb and the occupied Throne of heaven.  God raised His Son from the dead and installed Him as the Lord of all things.  He presently works to reveal the triumph, continually imparting the power of resurrection to all who see through their crosses to coming resurrections.  Relentless.

    Let the devil do what he will.  The tomb will remain empty, and the Throne occupied.  Our Father will further His ongoing purposes.  He will work mighty - and relentlessly - to overcome the greatest challenges, fill the emptiest voids, redeem the most lost of causes, and resurrect the seemingly deadest of conditions, circumstances, and situations.  He presently works in your life and mine, and as we see our enemies seemingly making inroads, let us remember that nothing they can do escapes God's constant working to redeem, resurrect, and restore.  Relentless…

Sometimes it seems that the enemy of our soul wins

over and over and over again.

But if we could see the truth much more clearly, my friend,

we'd see Christ triumph over death, hell, and sin

over and over and over again…

over and over and over and over again.

The tomb is empty, the throne above occupied,

for Christ is risen again, from death glorified.

So remember when hot, stinging tears fill your eyes

the triumph He's shown so many times in our lives,

over and over and over again…

over and over and  over and over again.

Forever draws nigh, we will be with Him there soon, my friend.

The trials of this life will be gone when we're with Him in Heaven.

Glories we'll see, majesty without end, that sing the glad hymn Christ is risen again,

over and over and over again.

Over and over and over and over again.

"God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will."

(Ephesians 1:3; 11)

Weekly Memory Verse 

     The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

(John 10:10)