The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
(Thanks to Frances for a blessed lifetime of exemplifying the following)
"Consider Him"
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds" (Hebrews 12:2-3).
When faced with challenges and their wearying effects, our natural human response leads us to consider ourselves. "Why is this happening to me?… What is this all about?… How am I going to deal with this situation?" These and other questions are valid as we seek to face and overcome problems. However, the writer of Hebrews calls us to a different response as we begin to navigate troubled waters: "Consider Him." Indeed, seeing the matters of life through the Lord Jesus Christ strengthens to a far better and more effectual response as those devoted to God's glory and will. What does it mean to "consider" the Lord Jesus Christ in heart when we find ourselves "wearied and faint" in mind and body? Many Biblical truths speak to the matter, including…
"I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20). Born again believers do not face life and its challenges by ourselves. In fact, the Psalmist declared God to be "a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1; emphasis added). "The Captain of our salvation" abides at the helm of our ship as it makes its voyages through rough seas (Hebrews 2:10). Remembering and affirming the truth of His presence by faith encourages and strengthens us to face difficulties in a way far different than if we perceive ourselves as alone. "Consider Him."
"The eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11). God has woven His intention and significance into everything that occurs in our lives. Everything. Certainly, we may not know the particulars and the "Why?" of life's happenings. We do know without question, however, that our Lord is present with purpose in every moment of our existence. "Consider Him."
"All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called unto His purpose" (Romans 8:28). Not everything that happens to believers is good in itself. Many bad things affect us all. Our Heavenly Father, however, can and does coordinate all thing for our ultimate good, defined by the Apostle Paul as conformity to the spiritual and moral image of the Lord Jesus (Romans 8:29). "Consider Him."
"We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). God provided our salvation through the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. Our experience of salvation inevitably includes our own personal sufferings as we "walk, even as He walked" (I John 2:6). None of us would ever have trusted the Savior apart from the challenges of life. Nor would we walk with Him without the same. Presently, we need need in order to realize how completely dependent we are on our Lord. "Consider Him."
The Christ who died on the cross now lives in us by His Spirit. The present world is not His friend. His presence within us means that it will not be ours either. "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body" (II Corinthians 4:10). Believers not only suffer for our Lord. As His walks in us, "the sufferings of Christ abound in us" (II Corinthians 1:5; emphasis added). Indeed, our challenges are far more about Him than ourselves, namely, God's glory, purpose, and working by His Son in us. "Consider Him."
Time and eternity does not permit a full exposition of "Consider Him." However, a final point for our present pondering involves a most personal matter for all of us, and for those in our sphere of influence.
"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (II Corinthians 1:3-4).
We administer to others the comfort we personally receive from our Lord. Without challenge, such ministry would not be possible. God purposes to apply the balm of Christ not only within us, but through us unto others. We discover our Lord in both the reception and the ministry, finding Him to be all that Scripture declares, and all our hearts - and the heart of others - require "in any trouble." "Consider Him."
Our native human tendency always begins with "Consider me." Our spiritual tendency in Christ moves within us to "Consider Him." May God grant much grace in leading us to look unto the Author and Finisher of our faith in times of challenges, who will not fail in His promise of presence, power, and purpose. Yes, "Consider Him."
"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength."
(Isaiah 40:29)
Weekly Memory Verse
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation."
(II Corinthians 1:3-4).
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