The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Intervention"
Our spiritual enemies ever seek to discourage confidence in our Lord's ability to change people, circumstances, situations, conditions, and ourselves.
"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (II Peter 3:3-4).
While intensified in the last days, devilish and human scoffers have always ridiculed the notion of God's intervention in human hearts and the world. If we succumb to their slanderous temptations to disbelieve our Lord's transformative abilities, we will not expect, we will not pray, and we will not act with the confidence that sees crosses and tombs as prelude to resurrections. Indeed, do we look at matters and resign ourselves to the despairing lament, "All things continue as they were?"
We had better not. God gives believers in the Lord Jesus Christ responsibility to see the truth of an active Lord, mightily at work to fulfill His purposes. "God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:3;11). How such working will apply in the matters that concern us, we do not know. We just know that our Lord is comprehensively present and active in His redeeming work in Christ. "All things" serve as the venue of His working declares the Apostle Paul. Thus, we trust our Lord to change things and to change people. Whether or not we see obvious indications of such working by our Heavenly Father is not our business. How could we possibly know everything an infinite God does in "all things?" Our calling lies in believing, affirming, and acting in accordance with the definitively declared Word of God that our Lord ever continues His work of redeeming change. All things do not continue as they were. God acts. God intervenes. God moves in history, and in our story.
Long ago, the scoffer would have directed our attention to an occupied tomb. "He's in there, and like all others, He won't be coming out" the reviler would have sneered. "Fool! All things continue as they were!" I will let you recall the rest of the story, and simply suggest that we view all things in the light of a tomb that changed, and a Lord who ever works to administer the power that intervened, transforming seeming tragedy into superlative triumph. Because all things do not continue as they were.
"The Word of God… effectually worketh also in you that believe."
(I Thessalonians 2:13)
"My expectation is from Him."
(Psalm 62:5)
Weekly Memory Verse
But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
(Ephesians 2:4-7)
6668
No comments:
Post a Comment