The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"His Story"
"History is indeed His story, the story of God's working to exalt and reveal the Lord Jesus. This includes your history and mine."
You may be familiar with the old adage, "History is His story." The Apostle Paul confirms…
"God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:3; 11).
Amid all - the good, the evil, and the mundane - an unseen Heart and unseen Hand work to fulfill "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11). James tells us that God serves as the source and power of all good. He also confirms that the Lord is not the source and power of evil, but He nevertheless coordinates the fulfillment of His ultimate will in all who come into the world and serve God's purpose, either willingly or unwittingly - in all things.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17).
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man" (James 1:13).
"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations" (James 1:2).
"For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that" (James 4:14-15).
History is indeed His story, the story of God's working to exalt and reveal the Lord Jesus. This includes your history and mine. "My times are in Thy hands" (Psalm 31:15). What has the unseen Hand and Heart done in our lives? What is our Lord doing? What will He do forevermore? We know the answer in ultimate terms. Again, God works in all to fulfill "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Be it the good He has administered, the evil He has allowed, or the mundane He has arranged to add meaning and significance to every moment of our existence, our Heavenly Father acts with a Christ-centered determination from which He never wavers. Never. "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand" (John 3:35).
To the degree we join our Father in seeking to exalt and reveal the Lord Jesus will be the degree to which we understand all history - and our story - in the light of truth and reality. We cannot see the Heart and the Hand that ever works for such a glorious purpose. We often do not understand how the Lord fulfills His intentions in our lives. We can, however, believe and devote ourselves to the story - His story - by seeking to live and bear witness to the Christ so worthy of the story's theme. No greater purpose exists to which we can dedicate ourselves. In fact, no other purpose exists whereby we know the peace and joy that history, including our own, is His story.
"His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by Him, and for Him. And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence."
(Colossians 1:14-18)
Weekly Memory Verse
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
(I Timothy 3:16)
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